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ROUND THE WORLD 

Tn 1883-4. 



(WRITTEN FOR THE GRATIFICATION OF PERSONAL FRIENDS 
AND ACQUAINTANCES.) 



BY 



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COW^DEROY. 



BIASON, FIRTH &' M'CUTCHEON, GENERAL PRINTERS, 
Flindeks Lane West, 

18 8 4. 



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Contents. 



Across the Pacific 

Through America . . . . . . 

Across the Atlantic . . 

A Trip to Holland, Belgium, the German Rhine Provinces 
Paris, &c. 



PAGE 

3 

9 
29 

31 



London to Australia, via France, Switzerland, Italy, Egypt, 

and Ceylon . . . . ^ . . . . . 50 



Appendix 



97 



ROUND THE WORLD. 



ACEOSS THE PACIFIC. 



It was in the month of May, 1883, that we took farewell of home 
and friends to embark at Sydney in the *' Zealandia" for San Fran- 
cisco. Our experiences in Sydney were those of all travellers who 
are cumbered with many belongings. Cabmen, draymen, boatmen, 
and porters seem to be all in league to relieve you as much as 
possible of the contents of purses and pockets ; but — after many a 
struggle and contention — at length the steam is up, and the ship 
is upon her course. The last farewells have been written and said 
by us, but still we find more to read from far-off homes — for they 
follow us to the last moment, " warm with the breath of affection, 
and moist with the tears of regret." At the start our " State 
cabin" resembled a baggage-room, but in a short time order was 
brought out of chaos ; and with the ingenious contrivances provided 
by the forethought of the ladies, such a transformation was effected 
that our little home upon the sea was furnished with all the conveni- 
ences and comforts of shipboard life. 

We passed out of the Harbour with a fair wind, a clear sky, and a 
beautiful sea. The natural regrets that accompanied the last linger- 
ing looks at that fading land which held most of our hearts' treasures 
were soon almost forgotten in the busy work of " shaking down," 
and then taking stock of our surroundings, as well as of the ships' 
officers, and our fellow-voyagers. No signs of the mal de mer 
appeared to spoil the pleasure of our start, and the ladies were able 
to enjoy the sight of the bright sea glistening beneath the moon- 
beams far into the evening. Committing ourselves and all our dear 
ones to that gracious Hand that holds the waters, as well as sustains 
the earth, "and all that therein is," we retired, weary and fatigued, 
to enjoy the first night's rest in our ocean home. Fine weather 
favoured us on the morrow, and although a few bad sailors among 
the ladies were a little qualmish, another day dispelled their maladies, 
and '"'■ all went merry as a marriage bell." Captain Webber, one of 
the most genial commanders that ever trod a deck, strove to shed 
brightness all around him ; and as we sat next him at the head of 
his table — and one, at least, of our young ladies was a match for 
most people at fun and banter — things got lively at meal times ;. 



wMle the early discovery of much musical taste and talent, including 
an accomplished violinist, provided a good deal of social enjoyment 
in the intervals between. Our first Sunday at sea was a delightful 
day. The ocean was calm and peaceful around us, and the muster 
of the crew on deck — Europeans and Asiatics — in their Sunday 
attire was a pretty sight. The Europeans, or at least the Protestant 
portion of them, filed down into the saloon, and occupied the two 
sides, while the rest of the space was filled by the passengers. The 
captain's and chief officer's seats were converted into reading-desk 
and pulpit, and the Church of England service was conducted by 
the Rev. Mr. Sharp, a passenger. The responses — the chants and 
hymns — were all effectively rendered, and it was altogether a gratify- 
ing service. In the evening we had hymns and sacred pieces. 

Early on Monday morning we found ourselves off the North- 
west Cape of New Zealand, and as we kept all day within sight of 
land, we had some fine views of that striking coast line. Rounding 
the north-eastern shore we made for Auckland in a southerly 
direction. In the cruise down the coast we passed some remarkably 
fine islands and headlands — notably the Bay of Islands and its 
cliffs and promontories, Cape Butt standing out conspicuously. 
Then we passed " The Poor Knights," and later on Moro Tiri and 
Taranga, both extremely bold and broken, the latter especially, with 
its pinnacles and castellated eminences. There were multitudes of 
rocks and islands lying near the ship's course, which seemed to 
suggest a dangerous navigation. 

We experienced a change of weather at Auckland, and landed in 
rain. After exploring the town, and posting letters to our friends, 
we drove up to the public gardens, from which a fine view is obtained 
of the town and harbour ; and thence to Mount Eden, a lofty 
eminence, which commands not only Auckland and its bay, but the 
entire isthmus on which Auckland is built, and the numerous islands 
and headlands around. The extinct volcanoes of this district 
number about seventy, and most of them are visible from this Pisgah 
top, which is itself an old crater, though now covered with a rich 
sward of green. The famed hot springs of this northern island of New 
Zealand are evidences of the rather unpleasant proximity of internal 
fires and gases, of which there are also disagreeable reminders in the 
frequent terrestrial disturbances. Hence a peculiarity about the 
town of Auckland, which the visitor cannot but notice — namely, 
the prevalence of wood and iron in the construction of houses, 
churches, and public buildings. 

The weather at Auckland was premonitory of something rough 
outside, and as we met an easterly swell, which caught the " Zea- 
landia" on the beam, along her whole length of nearly 400 feet, she 
took to rolling, which made matters lively, and sent most of the new 
arrivals, and some of the other passengers, to their berths. At 
dinner especially the din and clatter of plates and glasses, with the 
talk and laughter over occasional " spills," kept the saloon very 



noisy. In a day or two all was again pleasant. The new arrivals 
fraternised with the old, and as we were on the eve of the Queen's 
birthday, a committee was formed to arrange a programme of amuse- 
ments, in celebration of that auspicious event. We were not only 
approaching the Queen's birthday, but the 180th meridian, or exact 
antipodes of Greenwich. While west of this line we are east of 
Greenwich, and therefore in advance of Greenwich time. At mid- 
night here it is noon at Greenwich; but as we cannot go on beyond 
the twelve hours without breaking into another day, we adjust 
matters by repeating one day (which happened to be the royal anni- 
versary birthday), and then we start at twelve hours later than 
Greenwich, which difference is lessened day by day as we proceed 
eastwards. 

The second of the two 24ths being the Queen's birthday on 
the English side, we observed that day, and it was done right 
loyally. A salute was fired in the early morning. The day was 
proclaimed a holiday, and the tars were all in Sunday togs. There 
were foot races, hurdle races, potato races, obstacle races, and 
donkey races (the donkeys being splendidly got up by the 
sailors). There were also "cock fights" by some of the leading 
passengers, and " tugs of war," in which the passengers were ulti- 
mately victors as against the crew, and other]sports; and the seamen 
got up a great display, accompanied by the chorus of the drowning 
of the " dead horse." The meaning of this ceremony is that all the 
advances made to the men in port extended only to the wages due 
to them up to this day. The " dead horse" earnings, therefore, were 
ended, and from this time they would have wages to receive. The 
day closed with an evening concert. Bright and ]3leasant weather 
accompanied us all through the Pacific, and the heat of the tropics 
was greatly tempered by the trade winds, while the deep blue of the 
wide ocean was an unceasing pleasure to contemplate. We passed 
'• Tutuila," one of the Samoan, or "Navigator, Group" of Islands, 
in our course. Almost every day was a gala day, for our committee 
of pastimes provided an abundance of amusement in the shape of 
games on deck, concerts and balls, conversaziones, &c. On the 
occasion of "crossing the line" the ship's crew got up a very sensa- 
tional and grotesque celebration, in which Neptune and his wife, and 
a host of minor marine deities, amphitrites, &c., were personated. 
There was a grand procession, a stately court was held, and there 
were many arrests made of suspected new-comers into the sacred 
precincts of the "line," and much shaving and ducking (of course, 
this rougher part of the entertainment was confined to members of 
the ship's crew). It was all so admirably conducted that a good 
collection was made among the passengers, and presented to the 
performers. Even here, in mid-tropics, the unconquerable love of 
dancing among young people, especially Australians, had to be 
gratified, and a ball kept the saloon alive until after midnight. 

b2 



Amongst the passengers were some professionals, who contributed 
occasionally to the amusement of their companions de voyage. Con- 
tributions were levied at some of our fetes for the Shipwrecked 
Mariners' Association, and the total result at the end of the 
voyage was an addition of £50 to their funds. 

At about eight in the morning of 3rd June we began to make 
out the dim outline of the peaks of Oahu, one of the Sandwich 
Islands or Hawaiian group. Soon after noon we were alongside 
the wharf of its chief town, Honolulu, and by one o'clock we were 
sitting down to luncheon in a very pretty specimen of a tropical 
hotel, surrounded by the lovely verdure and rich foliage of this 
prolific clime. The heat is tempered by the many contrivances in the 
structure and arrangements of the building, and by the many aids 
to nature's rich resources. Taken altogether, with the refreshing 
fruits and other delicacies on the tables, the hotel had an air of 
luxurious enjoyment. But Honolulu has other attractions for 
visitors. Every one must visit the Pali. A pleasant drive of six or 
seven miles (it would be more pleasant if the road was not in places 
so villainously bad) up a gorge or valley between conical peaks on 
either side, brings you to an elevation which suddenly reveals a 
precipice descending abruptly some 1200 feet to a plain below, 
beautifully grassed and partially cultivated, but hemmed in by lofty 
peaks and ranges on the right and left, and fringed in the open 
distance by the white foam of the ocean breakers. The view from 
this summit is almost awe-inspiring. It was here that a great 
massacre occurred in the last war of the islanders, when a thousand 
of the inhabitants were driven over the precipice by the conquering 
foe. 

The slaughter at the Pali took place when " Kamehamea the 
Great," the first of the kings of that name, fought for the sovereignty 
of the isles. There is a legend amongst the Kanakas (or, as they 
prefer to be called, " Haweians") which is most touching. It is of 
a grand young chief who had been conspicuous in this slaughter, 
and who subsequently visited the district in the retinue of the king, 
and fell in love (at first sight) with a maiden, the flower of the tribe. 
Another chief also sighed for her, and the two warriors engaged in 
deadly strife for the prize. Our young hero conquered, and carried 
her off. Her father, however, a wily chief, vowed that the slayer of 
his tribe should not possess his daughter, and the tragic story, which 
ends in the lovers sleeping together in death in an ocean cave, is 
extremely pathetic, but too long to repeat. This is what the legend 
says of the young chief : — 

" Kaaialii had raged in the slaughter of Maunalei, Lanai's last 
bloody fight. With his long-reaching spear, wielded with sinewy 
arms, he urged the flying foe to the top of a fearful cliff, and,"* 
mocking the cries of a huddled crowd of panic-scared men, he drove 
them with thrusts and shouts till they leaped like frightened sheep 



into the jaws of the deep, dark chasm, and their torn corpses strewed 
the jagged stones below with a gory mass of mangled flesh and 
bones." 

The town of Honolulu is very interesting, the houses about the 
outer portions standing in their own grounds, with avenues of palms, 
and ornamented with tropical plants and flowers. The female por- 
tion of the native population know nothing of the ills of tight-lacing, 
but dress in loose flowing gowns extending from the neck to the feet ; 
rich blue appeared to be the fashionable colour. 

Our visit was rendered extremely agreeable from discovering an 
old friend and neighbour in Mrs. Pfluger, the wife of the agent for 
the Steamship Company, whose hospitality and attentions we can- 
not forget. In her company, too, we paid a very pleasant visit to 
the house of the Princess Miriam Like-Like (the king's sister), to 
whose husband we had an introduction from Australia. Their little 
daughter is the heiress apparent to the throne. She is a charming 
little girl, then seven and a half years old, and her names and titles 
are — " Her Royal Highness the Princess Victoria Kawekiu-Kaiu- 
lani-Lunalilo-Kalaninuiahilapalapa." The Court was then mourn- 
ing the death of the Princess Kulikolani, the last of the Kameha- 
mea royal race, whose body was awaiting in ice the arrival of the 
only wood which is permitted to be used for the outer coffin of the 
royal dead before being placed in the mausoleum of the kings. 

In the Princess's garden, amongst other tropical trees, is a specimen 
of the banyan-tree of India. It was imported from thence about 
eleven years ago, and already many of the pendent branches have 
struck their extremities into the ground, become rooted, and are 
giving forth other branches which have the same tendency, so that 
one of these trees might in time become of itself a small forest, 
giving refreshing shade beneath its pillared walks. The King Kala- 
kaua and his Queen, Kapiolani, are popular, and take an active part 
in all good and useful movements. In so hot a place European and 
American ladies do little walking, but the telephone is laid on in 
every house, and the ladies give their household orders by telephone 
as well as arrange with their friends about calls and visits. They 
have light American carriages, which are shady and comfortable, 
and Honolulu society, though limited, appears to be very enjoyable. 

The other islands of the group appeared to be composed, in the 
main, of lofty hills rising to 3000 and 4000 feet. Hawaii (or 
Owyee) is by far the largest of the group, but it has the largest 
portion of unproductive territory. There is one volcano in the 
group still occasionally active, but most of the old volcanoes have 
become extinct. The loftiest mountain in these islands is said to 
be 14,500 feet high. 

In the remaining stage of our voyage to San Francisco we had 
variable weather, with a tolerable amount of '* sea ;" but in spite of 
all such difficulties the amusements went on daily, and concerts. 



8 

minstrel entertainments, sports, and even dancing (though under great 
difficulties) enlivened the days and evenings. Each day became 
cooler, and daylight rapidly extended. On the eighth day after 
leaving Honolulu we sighted the American land. With strained 
vision and the aid of all the field-glasses and telescopes on board we 
scanned each changing aspect of the coast line until we neared the 
" Seal Rocks," and soon afterwards entered the " Golden Gate," 
steaming steadily up the harbour and anchoring ofif the principal 
wharf. We thus concluded a pleasant and rapid run of about 7400 
miles between Sydney and San Francisco in twenty-five days, includ- 
ing stoppages. The history and incidents of the voyage are duly 
chronicled in the Gomel, a daily newspaper, published (in manuscript) 
during the voyage, and subsequently clothed in more enduring type 
with an appropriately illustrated cover. Its able editor was a dis- 
tinguished member of the literary staff of a Melbourne morning 
journal. 



THROUGH AMEEICA. 



We landed at San Francisco on the evening of Monday, the 11th 
June, amidst the most perfect Babel of hotel touters and railway 
scouts that ever saluted mortal ears. Handsomely got up advertise- 
ments of railway routes to everywhere were tossed about and almost 
thrown at every passenger. We and our baggage — that is, the 
mere handbags and valises that were not retained for special scrutiny 
by Customs officers — were hustled into a coach belonging to the 
" Palace," and how the driver managed to get us through the crush 
of horses, drags, coaches, waggons, and omnibuses that filled the 
depot was a marvel. We were not long, however, before we alighted 
in the court of the famed Palace Hotel, and in a few minutes, after 
writing our names in the hotel register, we were ascending in the 
elevator to our apartments, while negro waiters were bringing our 
belongings after us. As soon as we had taken a look at our rooms, 
and gone through the preliminaries of settling down, we walked out 
on to the grand balcony in front of our parlour to listen for a short 
time to the strains of the band, which was discoursing sweet music 
below in the " grand central court," where we had recently alighted 
from the coach. This band plays on Monday evenings and special 
occasions. At the same time we could survey the handsome propor- 
tions of this " 2^^^^^^" indeed, lighted as it was with scores of gas- 
burners and several electric lights, which made the gas look dim and 
yellow. This is one of the finest hotels in the world, and in some 
respects has no equal. It covers about three acres of ground, and 
has streets on all its four sides. In the basement below the street 
level are the kitchens, laundries, bakery, confection-rooms, water- 
works, steam-engine, and appliances for raising water, working the 
elevators, &c., in which you find a small army of French, American, 
and Chinese. The ground floor contains the office, reception-rooms, 
dining-hall and breakfast-rooms, hairdressers, and a considerable 
number of shops ; while above these rise six stories of apartments, 
with attic rooms in the roof. There are about 1200 rooms in the 
hotel altogether. It is built of brick and stone, with iron wrought 
bands. Externally tier rises upon'tier of bay windows. Within 
the appearance is very chaste, being all of white marble, or imita- 
tion of marble. Four artesian wells supply the great reservoir 
of 630,000 gallons, and the roof tanks hold 130,000 gallons 
more. Electric bells and pneumatic letter-tubes connect all the 
rooms with the central offices. The dining-hall is a grand apartment, 



10 

lighted at night with electric lights, which are reflected from all sides 
by enormous mirrors, and the guests are attended by a posse of 
negro waiters, who are kept up to their work by a head waiter and 
two or three assistants, who also politely receiye guests as they enter, 
and hand them to their allotted seats. The bedrooms are attended 
to by negresses. There are spacious and handsomely furnished 
parlours and drawingrooms, and all the grand balconies have velvet- 
cushioned settees at short distances. The bill of fare includes every 
luxury of the season, and the whole cost of living in this palatial 
home is less than that which would be paid for board and residence 
in a second-class house in Melbourne, Sydney, or Adelaide. The 
Baldwin is another celebrated hotel in 'Frisco. It is not so spacious 
as the Palace, but excels it in the splendour of its internal fittings. 
It is said to have cost Mr. Baldwin three million dollars. 

San Francisco has a history like that of Melbourne, and it is 
difficult to say which is the more remarkable of the two. It is only 
thirty -five years since its population consisted of 500 souls ; now it 
numbers a quarter of a million. Its bustling streets, in which tram- 
cars are running in every direction ; its telegraph and telephone 
arrangements, and all its appliances for promoting business, impress 
you with the spirit and energy everywhere visible. Its rough stone- 
pitched or '' cobbled" roadways are abominable, except on the car- 
tracks. The most remarkable of its provisions for street locomotion 
is the wire-rope railway, by which cars are taken up and down even 
the steepest gradients in the city, one of them being as sharp in 
places as one in five. It is found, however, to be superior to the 
horse-tram system, even for level running, and was about to be 
brought into operation for one of the principal routes. 'Frisco has 
suffered greatly from fires, and a very considerable proportion of the 
city being built of wood the precautions adopted for suppressing fires 
are very complete. There are fourteen or fifteen fire brigade stations 
in the city, and two of the " patrols," as they are called, are sup- 
ported by the insurance offices for preventive and salvage operations. 
An example of their utility occurred during our visit. A fire broke 
out in a large tobacco manufactory — fortunately in the top story. 
The insurance brigade men swarmed into the building as soon as the 
alarm was given, and covered up with tarpaulins and indiarubber the 
whole of the stock in the floor beneath the fire ; then they set to 
work with each of the other stories, and by making openings in the 
floors all the water poured by the other brigades on to the fire above 
found its way to the street below without wetting a box of cigark, 
and thus 40,000 dollars' worth of stock which would have been 
spoiled by the water was entirely uninjured. The perfection of the 
arrangements at the stations of these '' patrols" is admirable. Horses 
as well as n^en are so thoroughly trained that on a telegraph signal 
of a fire — which rings a bell — by night or by day, the horses are 
liarnesscd to the vehicles and the men in their seats in a few seconds, 



11 

and off to the scene of the fire. In the harbour all the appliances 
are equally wonderful. The great ferry-boats convey hundreds of 
passengers at a time, with horses and vehicles, and some of them 
railway trains of twelve or fourteen cars. Our stay was all too short. 
Our limited time compelled us at the end of three days to start on 
our great transcontinental journey, and we were obliged to decline 
many proffered hospitalities. 

After a deal of confusion at the railway station, owing to the 
large number of travellers starting on various routes, whose "bag- 
gage" had all to be checked for the destination of each parcel, we 
got off, but only as the great ferry started were we ready. In this 
most commodious and comfortable conveyance we were taken five 
miles, and then introduced to our " drawingroom" at the end of one 
of the large sleeping-cars. This was to be our home for two nights 
and part of three days. The run for the first 140 miles is a 
pleasant one, through farms and orchards, vineyards and orange- 
groves ; and the hay harvest having commenced, the evening breeze 
brought to our grateful senses ever and anon the welcome fragrance 
of the new-mown hay. It was too late to see much of Sacramento, 
the capitol of California State, and a town of 25,000 inhabitants. 
After leaving Sacramento the country gradually changes in cha- 
racter. The rivers and pretty towns, surrounded by farms and 
plantations, give way to rugged heights and ravines^ and we rise 
rapidly into the romantic mountain region of the great Sierra 
Nevada. Although daylight had departed, we had the benefit of a 
moon nearly at the full, and could appreciate the grandeur of the 
scenery as we passed up the gorges and canyons — the overhanging 
cliffs, the deep descents, and the rushing mountain torrents. We 
stayed up late in order that we might not miss **Cape Horn," 
where the railway track is a mere ledge cut in the face of the moun- 
tain, and you look down from it 2000 feet to the rushing of the 
American River in the gorge below. Long before this our sleeping 
berths had been arranged by our coffee-coloured conductor, and we 
turned in for the night. Up, and still upward, however, our iron 
horse was ploughing his way; and before day broke I was so cold 
that I had to get an opossum rug for an extra covering — and well 
I might, for we had reached an elevation of 7200 feet above sea- 
level. On turning out in the morning the snow-clad mountains of 
the Sierra stretched away from us with more or less of imposing 
grandeur, while the peaks and rugged summits immediately above 
and around us had snow-streaks wherever there was partial protec- 
tion from the sun's rays. A very long stretch of snowsheds had 
been fortunately passed while we were asleep. In these mountains 
the trains would be frequently blocked in winter but for these long 
galleries built of stout pine logs, which catch the drift snow and 
avalanches from the mountai]i tops above, and thus enable the train 
to run through with 15 or 20 feet of snow piled over the 



12 

sheds. In other parts miles of snow fences are placed near the 
track to intercept the drift snow. In the Sierra mountain country 
the necessity for these contrivances was recognised from the first ; 
but in the Rocky Mountains, as we afterwards discovered, very many 
miles of sheds and fences have had to be constructed more recently 
in consequence of the stoppage of trains — an event which the 
authors of the line did not anticipate. After passing many 
places of more or less interest, stopping occasionally at roadside 
houses, from which in most instances there is communication with 
some mining camp, we descend to the White Plains — a hot and 
disagreeable stretch of country, although still 4000 feet above the 
sea level. Leaving these dusty plains we again ascend, and some por- 
tions of the ride become vastly more interesting. One incident of 
the journey created interest and amusement for the passengers. At 
most of the stopping-places parties of Indians joined us, the 
railway people allowing them to travel free, huddled up in 
crowds on the platforms between the baggage-cars. They were 
gathering for a great muster of the tribe — the Utas, or Piutes — 
at Winnemucca (a small town named after one of their chiefs), 
which was to be held a day or two later. There were old 
and young of both sexes, and the young people especially were 
fashionably decorated for the meeting in red and white paint, some 
of their faces being very quaintly striped. The women, with 
papooses at their back like little mummies, with only their little fat 
faces visible, were the objects of most attraction. Some of them 
had un slung their charges, and had got the poor infants covered up, 
demanding " two bits" to show them to us. Two bits would be 
about equal to an English shilling. After passing over much 
desolate country with an oasis or two on the way, the land generally 
growing nothing but sagebush, we come to a point which now has a 
great historical interest, as being the point of junction of the two 
great railway lines which together connect the railway systems of 
the Atlantic with the Pacific coasts. The story of the construction 
of these two lines is a most interesting one, but too long for me to 
repeat here. The Central Pacific Company own the line from San 
Francisco to Ogden (883 miles), and the Union Pacific own the 
next 1033 miles to Omaha, on the Missouri. The proposal to con- 
struct these ] 900 miles of railway over such country as the Rocky 
Mountains and the great Sierra was deemed at first utterly futile. 
Even the navvies refused to go on to portions of the work unless 
paid beforehand. By a great and united effort, however, both com- 
panies surmounted all difficulties, and in little more than six years 
the '' railway wedding" was celebrated with great triumph. 

Descending into the valley of the Great Salt Lake we began to 
exchange the desolation of the desert for the verdure of cultivated 
fields. We were in the Mormon country. After an early breakfast 
we exchanged trains at Ogden, and proceeded to Salt Lake City. 



13 

The rich fields of the Mormon farmers, the lake, and the surrounding 
snow-capped mountains made the trip under a brilliant sky a most 
enjoyable one. We were armed with introductions to the proprietor 
of the two principal hotels, and had been led to expect the greatest 
attention and assistance from him. The town, however, was full to 
overflowing. It was the height of the season. Two opera companies 
were there and a Cook excursion party. Our train also brought two 
or three hundred, and we were driven to seek quarters in a second- 
rate house only opened a few days previously. We were very com- 
fortable, however. It being Saturday I had the opportunity of 
going amongst the farmers, who, with their wives, were in from the 
country in crowds ; and I also visited the principal business places. 
On Sunday we went in the afternoon to the one service in the 
Mormon tabernacle. They have a great deal of music, which is 
well rendered. On account of the unusual number of visitors, two 
of the chief " apostles" spoke, and in each case the address — very 
lengthy — was little more than a defence of Mormonism. Apart 
from the polygamy question, there seems to be very little difference 
between the errors of Mormonism and those of the '' Latter Day" 
Church at Melbourne. The latter have their " apostles," while the 
Mormons have theirs ; and they also believe that Joseph Smith was 
a truly inspired prophet. They believe that the law which sanc- 
tioned a plurality of wives in the patriarchs is a very good law 
still. The new temple in white marble is gradually rising to its 
intended height, but nobody knows how the funds stand. The 
president is treasurer, and he renders no account. As the 
building is rising before their eyes he expects the brethren to 
be satisfied. The city has grown rapidly of late, and the " Gen- 
tiles" are gaining ground on the Mormons. It must be said, how- 
ever, in common fairness, that the doctrine of good works preached 
to the Mormon people by their elders and apostles is not preached 
in vain, for Gentiles admitted to me that they could always trust a 
Mormon, and that, as a rule, they were scrupulously honest and 
honourable. This Zion is a beautiful town. Nearly all its streets 
are avenues of trees, then in their richest green. The drives around 
are very pretty, and some of the views, especially of the overhanging 
snow-capped mountains, very imposing. Boiling sulphur springs 
bubble out from the bottom of one of the hills. There is a 
fort on a hillside commanding the town, with its array of field 
pieces, and there are about 200 soldiers in garrison. The officers' 
quarters are most charmingly situated, and a military band plays on 
certain afternoons, when the fashion of Salt Lake City muster in 
their carriages. The horses are remarkable for their beauty. Even 
the farmers' horses are of a very fine breed. There are a good many 
mules used. The tram-cars are drawn by mules. Of course, all 
visitors go to places of special note connected with the Mormons 
and their leaders, and are shown the houses in which the late Brig- 



14 

ham Young and his several wives Hved. Brigham Young's grave 
is one of these objects, and its condition is a reproach to his widows 
and numerous offspring, as well as to the church of which he was 
the head. 

But we cannot linger at Salt Lake. Eastward ho ! is our cry, 
and we start on another three and a-half days' stage by rail, over 
mountain and prairie, to the phoenix city of Chicago, the first short 
stage being from Salt Lake City to Ogden. Thence we had secured 
sleeping berths to Council Bluffs, on the east side of the Missouri. 
Leaving Ogden, we were soon away from the cultivated fields of the 
Mormon farmers and ascending mountain gorges, crossing torrents, 
and getting familiar again with the snow- streaks in the clefts of the 
rocks about and above us. The finest of these ravines was the 
Weber canyon, with its roaring, dashing mountain stream, which 
we crossed and recrossed several times. As we mounted higher and 
higher, we passed in succession many quaint and famous natural 
rocks, such as the devil's slide, the pulpit rock, the hanging rock, 
&c. In the upper plains we found a well-grassed country, on which 
large flocks and herds are depastured. Sheep-shearing was going 
on in two places near the line, the graziers being able to use 
the snow fences for their temporary drafting yards, and 
the natural stream of the prairie country before it became too 
much broken by the great fall in the canyon. In these parts 
we started the first wild deer and antelopes. We saw some fine 
specimens of them afterwards, but the buffalo seems to have disap- 
peared from the part of the prairies through which the railway runs. 
We passed a contrivance worth mentioning on our journey over the 
plains as an instance of American ingenuity and enterprise. The 
mining, grazing, and other occupations on this sparsely-settled 
country are enough to create a demand for timber, but not a tree is 
to be found within a dozen miles. . In the ranges at that distance 
there is an abundance of pine, and there are also fine mountain 
streams. They have, therefore, built a flume, supported on timbers 
of varying heights, according to the level, and the enormous box 
channel for the water forms a small canal, down which the pine logs, 
cut to the requisite lengths, are floated to the points where they are 
wanted, and there toppled out for use. Even charcoal-burning is 
-carried on in this way close to the railway, and thence sent to 
market. For mining purposes these big streams are also used, the 
water being caught in enormous pipes at the end of the flume, and 
with a nozzle which greatly increases the force of the outflow large 
walls of rock are brought down and reduced to a condition for 
yielding up their golden contents. It is the sluicing of the Beech- 
worth mines on an American scale. Over miles upon miles of 
prairie we pursue our way. The verdant landscape and the blue 
sky, with the fine bracing air of this elevated region, tend to make 
the ride enjoyable, and at every stopping-place there is some new 



15 

object to interest or amuse us. The eating-houses on the road,, 
which not long since had a bad reputation, have greatly improved. 
A good meal of three or four courses can be had at most of them, 
and the uniform charge now (apart from liquor) is three-quarters of 
a dollar (about 3s.). You would wonder how in such remote, out- 
of-the-way places a large party of travellers could be supplied daily 
with fresh fish, fruit, milk, and meat. Bread and rolls made in 
various ways are supplied, and made dishes, which seem to be 
popul^ with Americans, although not exactly suited to English 
tastes. The highest point reached during our entire journey is 
near a little hamlet called Sherman, and there they have just com- 
pleted a stone pyramid by the side of the railway at an altitude of 
8200 feet above sea level. The pyramid looks at least 80 or 90 
feet high, is built of a light sandstone, and on a large block on one 
side is cut in profile a portrait of General Sherman, after whom the 
place is named. As we gradually descend we pass several towns 
and villages, where we see a few Indians of the tribes that formerly 
held the lands and hunted the deer and the buffalo, but now rapidly 
disappearing, as well as their former game. One of the towns at 
which we halted was Cheyenne — pronounced Shienne — from which 
a branch line goes south to Denver, through some very fine romantic 
country. This being on the border of the prairies, therd is a good 
business done, and there is a rather fine clubhouse, supported by 
English as well as American capitalists, who have invested in the 
large cattle and sheep ranches into which the great plains of the 
prairie country are divided. Another rather nice town is Sidney, 
but it had been visited by a heavy storm the day before we arrived, 
and the streets were almost impassable. There were also some 
little towns along the route in which we could not help taking con- 
siderable interest. These were the villages of the saucy little 
marmot, or prairie dog, as he is called. He is about the size of a 
kangaroo rat, and not unlike one, only a little lighter in colour, and 
round-headed, with whiskers, and sharp little ears ; and as he sits bolt 
upright on his hind legs to ask you whether you mean mischief or 
not, you can't help laughing at the pert little rogue. They burrow 
very near each other, and are quite little communities, having appa- 
rently watchers perched on the higher mounds to warn the village of 
an approaching foe. 

On the morning of the third day we awoke to find ourselves in 
new country. The mountains were only visible in the remote dis- 
tance, and the far-stretching prairie, with its occasional mounds and 
cliffs and watercourses, had given way to cornfields and groves of 
various kinds of trees. The crops were much more backward than 
those on the Pacific slope, but they were rich in promise of an abun- 
dant harvest. For miles it was observable that no fences divided the 
land, and were only used for stockyards. The dividing lines between 
the farms were narrow, unfenced roads, and each farmer has to send 



16 

a man or boy with any of his horses or cattle to prevent their tres- 
passing upon his neighbours' crops. We were in the valley of the 
North Platte, and the same rich soil and well-watered country con- 
tinued on to the Missouri River and far beyond. There was, how- 
ever, too much water in places, and the flood of storm water of which 
we had seen traces at Sidney had come down upon this valley, and 
done considerable damage. From Kansas and St. Louis, further 
down the Missouri, came news of much more serious mischief, crops 
being swept away, and breaches made in railway embankments, 
which had obstructed the traffic. The great Missouri, where we 
crossed at Omaha, had only risen 5 or 6 inches, but the water was 
very turbid. On the east side of the river, at Council Bluffs, we had 
to change from the Union Pacific Railway to the " C. B. and Q." 
line — that is, the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy ; or, as 
agents put it, the " cheapest, best, and quickest." Here we first 
enjoyed the advantage of dining cars. The cooking and serving 
were both good, and the coloured waiters as deft and attentive as in 
a first-class hotel. The charges, too, were very reasonable. On 
the morning of the fourth day we rose early. We had to cross the 
grandest of rivers, the mighty Mississippi, at seven a.m., and as we 
did not retire very early o^rnight, we had charged our conductor to 
wake us early. This, however, was unnecessary, for we had a deal of 
shunting to do at Burlington, on the west bank of the river, and the 
clanging of bells by ours and the other engines moving about the 
station was enough to wake the soundest sleeper. At last we moved 
slowly over the bridge, which is about a mile in length. Here we 
saw some of the big river steamers of which Mark Twain has made 
a good deal, but they were not so fine as those we afterwards saw on 
the St. Lawrence and the Hudson, and about New York. The 
w^ater was not so turbid in the Mississippi as in the Missouri. The 
land all along this route is exceedingly rich. On the flats maize is 
^the principal crop. Wheat and rye, however, are largely grown, 
and all were fine and promising. Most of the land is capable of 
carrying from thirty to forty bushels of wheat to the acre. As there 
is scarcely any natural timber in the valleys, the Government allowed 
certain privileges to the selectors who planted trees ; hence you see 
clumps of the oak, elm, chestnut, maple, cotton-tree, and others, 
which serve as shelter for the farmers' stock, and greatly beautify the 
face of the landscape. The towns are at very short distances apart, 
and are rapidly rising. Most of the houses are built of wood, but of 
very tasteful designs. Owing to the newness of these places and 
the richness of the soil, the grass was growing on all the streets, 
leaving only a track in the centre. At last all the small towns had 
been passed, and we were conscious of being in the presence of a city 
— we were entering Chicago. Encountering i\\e. usual bustle and 
noise at the station, we were soon driven off to our hotel, the 
*' Grand Pacific," and preparing for a better acquaintance with this 
wonder of cities. 



17 

A volume is needed to describe the marvellous Chicago — the real 
Phoenix. It is only half a century since it was a mere village. 
After an unparalleled growiih of nearly 40 years it was razed to the 
ground by the great fire of 1871, when 17,450 buildings were 
consumed, and three years later 800 more were burnt. Now 
Chicago is grander than ever, and vastly more substantial ; the 
second city of the continent in her commerce if not in her population. 
Situated at the south-west corner of Lake Michigan she is the 
natural depot for all the produce of the more fertile tract of country 
in the Union. She receives about 9,000,000 head of stock yearly 
into her markets, and in one year 5,000,000 hogs were slaughtered. 
In one establishment 20,000 can be slaughtered and packed in one 
day ! The process by which poor piggy is turned into sausage meat, 
or "packed" in about twenty minutes, is the admiration of all 
visitors to Chicago. The Grand Pacific Hotel is itself a wonder, 
but the Palmer House, though a little smaller, is more sumptuous in 
its appointments. The Tremont House is almost as fine, and there 
are half a dozen other grand hotels to choose from. The Grand 
Avenue, Lincoln Park, and the Boulevards constitute perhaps the 
finest set of drives in the world. The new water-works which are on 
the shore of Lake Michigan, have two large engines of nearly 3000 
horse-power between them, by means of which the water, brought 
through a tunnel constructed from a point far out in the lake, is 
forced up a tower to a height, if necessary, of 157 feet, from which 
the city is supplied by gravitation. But I cannot describe Chicago ! 
The author of " American Pictures" gives a Chicago man's own 
account of it. He said — '* Our city is the biggest thing in the 
planet. We've had the biggest fire. We lifted the city five feet 
out of the mud. We made a river run up-hill, and it's the only 
city on earth every inch of which is covered three inches deep in 
mortgages." Very much more might be said about Chicago, and I 
would gladly have given more time to the inspection of its many 
attractions and the evidences of its marvellous development, 
but a start had to be made for Niagara. Comfortably located 
once again in a Pullman's sleeping car, we passed through 
Detroit late in the evening, and crossed the neck of Lake St. Clair, 
the connecting link between Lakes Huron and Erie. In the morn- 
ing we had to change cars at Buffalo Junction, and in a short time 
were skirting the Niagara Kiver and the upper rapids. Alighting 
on the Canada side we were driven to the " Clifton," from the door 
of which a full view of both falls is obtained. After seeing our 
apartments, we were on the balcony gazing at the grand spectacle 
before us. The first impression is not quite so awe-inspiring as 
most travellers expect, although somebody remarked that it was 
"awfully" fine. It is so truly majestic a sight, however, that its 
grandeur grows upon you, and to me it seemed more impressive on 
the second day than on the first. Apart from the two great catar- 



18 

acts, there are portions of the river both above and below the falls 
that are extremely interesting ; in fact the place abounds with 
romantic and beautiful bits of scenery. You can stand on rocks 
and ledges, with the rushing rapids just about to leap from your 
foothold over the great precipice ; and you can even go under, or 
rather behind, tbe enormous sheet that pours down from above into 
the foaming abyss below. This may be done rather easily at one 
end of the great Horseshoe Fall, but we — two young ladies and one 
other gentleman beside the writer — were beguiled into venturing 
under the worst of the three. Neither of the party would care to 
repeat the performance. Clad in a suit of oilskin and baptised with 
Niagara appears to have a good deal of romance about it, and so it 
has ; but holding on for very life, and gasping for breath amidst the 
dashing spray, and within arm's length of the mighty column of 
a descending river, is not without its elements of danger, and we 
were not sorry when the guide had helped us to clamber up the last 
rock and put us again on terra jirma. The suspension bridge 
which connects the American and Canadian shores is a very fine 
structure. The river below has some striking points where the 
rapids contend with the rocks, and the waters are tossed in clouds 
of spray, or where, as at the " whirlpool," the stream appears to 
take a downward course and then to come boiling and surging to 
the surface again, winding and curving in eddies that nothing can 
withstand. (It was here that the too rash and daring swimmer 
Captain Webb shortly afterwards perished.) But even charming 
Niag'ara cannot detain us, and we must hurry on to Lake Ontario 
and the St. Lawrence River. 

By rail to the mouth of the Niagara River, we there embarked on 
a lake steamer, which took us across to Toronto. Thence our course 
was through the lake eastwards^ calling at several ports on the 
Canadian side. On the following morning we were astir early, as 
we had entered tlie St. Lawrence, and commenced the charming and 
romantic voyage among the Thousand Islands. Some of these 
islands are mere small rocks, but trees and verdure find root-hold 
somehow, and with aU their varied forms and sizes everyone has a 
beauty of its own. Some are good-sized islands, with handsome 
summer retreats ornamental pagodas, boat-houses, and the luxuries 
which only wealth can provide. Some have farms upon them, some 
grand hotels and boarding-houses. Even small islands of half an 
acre have their cottage more or less pretentious, and one is compelled 
to ask how the butcher and the baker gets to them. There are,, 
however, many little steamboats flitting about, and during the 
summer months they get ample employment, while in winter they 
are not wanted, as the river is frozen over and most of the inhabi- 
tants are away. An excursion party of about 200 had come on 
board in the early morning at Kingston, so that our decks were 
rather crowded. The inconvenience was most felt as we approached 



19 

any place of special interest, notably when we were about to shoot 
the rapids. There are several of these ; but the feat of shooting 
most of them is but a mild sort of a sensation. When, however, 
our Indian pilot comes on board to conduct us into Montreal harbour, 
after shooting the last of the rapids, there is the height of expectation. 
This veteran, it is said, has never failed to take in the lake boats for 
a single day for nearly thirty years. Well, the last of the rapids 
was certainly rather sensational, the channel through the rocks was 
not only narrow but tortuous, while the water foamed around us and 
broke upon the reef, but the Indian with admirable skill guided the 
vessel and we glided safely through. Before us now stretched the 
great Montreal bridge over the St. Lawrence, two miles in length, 
beneath the centre arch of which we made our way, and were soon 
at the wharf, from whence we were driven to our hotel. 

Lower Canada, as everybody knows, was for many years in the 
possession of the French, and has often been the battle-ground of 
the contending armies of France and England. This will account 
for the fact that of the population of Montreal over two-thirds are 
either French or of French extraction, although now loyal Cana- 
dians. The farmers and country people for miles around are almost 
all French, and at Quebec the same state of things is observable ; 
in fact, Quebec looks French in nearly all the streets. In both 
towns, however, all the great enterprises that give prominence and 
prosperity to the trade and business of the place are started and 
managed by Englishmen. Montreal has a fine Catholic cathedral ; 
and our first day in the town, being the feast of St. Peter and St.' 
Paul, was observed as a holiday by the French inhabitants after 
early morning services at the cathedral. In the various places of 
public resort about the outskirts of the city picnic parties were en- 
countered whose nationality was evident from the lively chatter 
audible at a distance. Eoyal Mount is a fine eminence at the rear 
of the city. On one of its slopes is the cemetery, one of the pret- 
tiest I have ever seen. Its chief walks and drives, as they wind 
about the hillside, are ornamented with the most lovely flower-beds, 
and flowers adorn most of the graves. Thither a great number 
resorted on this saint's day — not to mourn for the dead, but to find 
enjoyment for the living. Still ascending, above and beyond the 
cemetery, we come at last to the top of Royal Mount, where an 
observatory is erected several flights in height, to which, of course, 
we ascend, and we are well repaid. With a powerful field-glass we 
take in not only the whole city of Montreal lying at our feet, but 
the country around for miles and miles. We trace the St. Lawrence 
up the course down which we came on the previous day, with a good 
many of the Thousand Islands, and a very distinct view of the 
latest and greatest of the rapids that we shot in our great river 
steamer. This French Catholic holiday being on Friday, and the 
great national holiday, Dominion Day, coming on the following 



20 

Monday, there was a holiday feeling pervading the population on the 
Saturday, and the trams were filled with excursionists paying visits 
to their country friends. It seemed odd, however, as I sat in the 
train for Quebec without a companion (for the rest of my party had 
gone on to New York) to hear nothing but French all around me, 
and everything on the journey — farm-houses, fields, mode of culti- 
vation, and the general habits of the people — all indicative of a 
French province ; fOr the time, in fact, I felt as if I were really in 
France. Quebec is a city of marvellous intere&t. Its situation is 
almost unrivalled, and it is perfectly unique in being the only walled 
city on the American Continent. It has been so often the scene of 
conflict in our wars with France that its forts and defence works are 
very complete. From the fortifications the most commanding views 
are obtained not only of Quebec and its harbour, but of the St. Law- 
rence and St. Charles Eivers, and many miles of the Dominion 
territory on the south side of the St. Lawrence. A very fine town 
has grown up on that side of the river, between which Quebec, ferry 
steamers are always plying. Further away along the country above 
the river stretches a town of one street, four miles in length. One 
of the most charming of promenades or esplanades (it is called here 
The Terrace) was opened not many months ago by the Marquis of 
Lome and the Princess. It is floored with wood, is of great breadth, 
with seats and summer-houses about it, and winds round the steep 
ascent on which the principal part of the city is built. From it you 
overlook the shipping and the 'two rivers at their junction, a long 
stretch of the southern shore to the. American border, and the Lower 
St. Lawrence as it winds about towards the sea. The drives and 
objects of interest — natural and historical — are numerous. The 
town itself contains many relics and mementoes of the old struggles. 
An obeKsk at a little distance beyond the wall has taken the place 
of the original pillar erected to the memory of General Wolfe. On 
one side you read — *' Here died Wolfe, 1759." On the obverse 
you have — " This pillar was erected by the British army in Canada, 
A.D. 1849, His Excellency Lieutenant- General Sir Benjamin 
D'Urban, G.C.B., K.C.H., K.C.T.S., &c., Commander of the Forces, 
to replace that erected by Governor- General Lord Aylmer, G.C.B., 
in 1832, which was broken and defaced, and is deposited beneath." 
There are also other military monuments. Being so largely French, 
of course Quebec is largely Catholic, and abounds in Catholic 
churches and religious houses. The principal church is the Minor 
Basilica, which the late Pope caused to be enriched with paintings 
of a high order and a very imposing altarpiece with most elaborate 
gilding and carved ornamentation above. Everything about the 
church, in fact, is gorgeous, and the singing and chanting are done 
by a splendidly trained choir. The English Cathedral presents a 
perfect contrast to the other. The style is severely simple, and so 
are the services. The whole were conducted on my visit by a pale- 



21 

faced, intellectual and gentlemanly looking clergyman, with shaven 
face and a moustache. The sermon was short and, as far as it 
went, very good. Here, as at all the towns visited, I had to regret 
my want of time to look into many of the local institutions. 

Returning by rail to jMontreal at night, I took another train early 
in the morning by the Grand Trunk, and after crossing the St. 
Lawrence had a ride through very fine country along the shores of 
Lake Champlain, with the Adirondack Mountains on the other side 
of the railway line. By four p.m. we had reached Saratoga. This 
is a place for an idler and a man of fashion, and still more for a 
woman of fashion, to gush over. Those who spend their summer 
holidays among excited crowds go either to Newport on the seacoast, 
or to Saratoga Springs inland — the springs being, like the waters 
of Bath and Cheltenham, the ostensible excuse for going there, but 
the real attractions being the pleasure- seeking crowds, and the end- 
less amusements and entertainments provided for them. There is 
not another spot on the American continent (or anywhere else) where 
the eye can take in at once such buildings as are to be seen in a 
group on the Broadway at Saratoga. Here are two of the finest 
hotels in the world facing each other, with a third equally magnifi- 
cent within eyeshot of the same spot, while almost within another 
stone's throw are the most fashionable of pleasure-grounds, with 
their pavihons, fountains, grottos, arbours, walks, and lounges, lighted 
in the evening with the electric light, and a band discoursing sweet 
sounds. It is during the season a scene of gaiety unsurpassed, 
where probably eight or ten thousand people come together for no 
other purpose than to be amused and to lead a life of luxurious 
pleasure. Each of the grand hotels has its garden and walks^ 
piazzas, terraces, fountains, and shrubberies, all lighted brilliantly in 
the evening by electricity ; and each has its band of music, so that 
concerts, garden parties, balls, &c., are always going on at some one 
or more of them. There are also beautiful drives and rides, where 
at the fashionable hour splendid equipages and well-bred horses and 
riders of both sexes may be seen. All this fever of fashionable 
excitement is, however, but a brilliant flash which appears for three 
short months and then dies. That is to say, the great hotels and 
many of the places of entertainment open in June, expect to fill by 
the middle of July, but begin to lose their patrons in September, 
and the twilight of fashion's days is but brief ; after which the 
doors close, and all this magnificence goes into the hands of care- 
takers, painters, cleaners, and decorators, until June comes round 
again. From Saratoga it is but a comparatively short ride by rail 
to Troy, on the Hudson River. Troy is a large and busy town. 
Many important and extensive manufactories are established there, 
and a great quantity of produce arriving from the interior by canal 
is shipped there for New Yorkj as it is also at Albany, which is only 
a few miles further south. The latter town is also the political 

c 2 



22 

capital of the State of New York, and the new capitol for the local 
legislature is there in course of building. Though not nearly so 
large as the national capitol at Washington, it is a grand pile, and 
rising high above the rest of the buildings is a conspicuous object 
from all the city's approaches. I had no time to inspect the Uni- 
versity, Museum, and other places of interest, as I was due in 'New 
York, so on the morning after my arrival I was on board the palatial 
river boat which was to convey me down the Hudson to " the Empire 
City." 

Not having then seen the Rhine, I was not able until later to com- 
pare it with the Hudson. They are somewhat alike in places, substi- 
tuting, however, modern buildings for ancient castles, and thriving 
young towns for the old burghs and cities of Western Europe. In 
some respects the Hudson must carry the palm. These great '' day- 
boats," as the monster steamers are calJed, ply up and down the 
river for 150 miles. Hundreds of passengers are conveyed by them, 
enjoying luxurious saloons, richly furnished and carpeted, or, if they 
prefer it, seats or chairs on either of the open decks, where they can 
view the ever-changing panorama as the vessel glides silently along 
at the rate of eighteen miles an hour. In the airy dining saloon — 
nearly all windows, to enable the passenger to feast his eyes and his 
palate at the same time — a first-class dinner can be had (by the 
carte) at reasonable prices ; and the cooking and attendance are all 
that can be desired. The river widens and narrows and winds about 
and opens into lakelike expanses, with sloping wooded hills here 
and towering rocks a little further, pretty towns or busy ports ap- 
pearing at intervals ; grand overhanging or bold rounded hills (like 
those on the lower Clyde) varying the scene, and ever and anon the 
wooded hills revealing the most beautiful villa residences or palatial 
mansions owned by New York millionaires. At short distances, 
averaging about a mile apart, we came upon huge buildings on the 
river bank, which are far from being ornamental, with long slides 
reaching from the top of the building to the water's edge at the 
wharf in front. These are icehouses, in which the ice of the river 
is collected in the winter and stored for summer use. These stores 
will hold from ten to sixty thousand tons of ice, and the article is 
conveyed to the city in barges constructed for the special purpose. 
The consumption in New York alone during the hot weather must 
be enormous. Everybody drinks iced water, and a great deal of it. 
Nor is the habit confined to New York ; everywhere ice is to be had 
in abundance. Over ten millions of tons of ice are consumed in 
America during the summer months ! In New York the price is — 
for large establishments, 30s. per ton ; small consumers are charged 
from 4s. to 5s. per week, according to the quantity taken daily. 
Along the banks of the river are many places rendered memorable 
by the events of the war of independence, and which are pointed out 
with natural pride by Americans. The famous Catskill mountains 



28 

form the background of the scenery for some miles. Among these 
hills is laid the scene of that twenty years' sleep of poor Rip Van 
Winkle, which is one of the most popular of modern legends. 
These hills rise to a height of 3000 feet and upwards. An inter- 
esting sight in the trip down the river is a flotilla of canal barges 
lashed together, and tugged by steamers. These barges contain 
every variety of merchandise, which has come across the lakes from 
Chicago (nearly 1400 miles away), and been brought through the 
canals to the River Hudson. These large flotillas, dotted all over 
with little deck-houses, look like water villages. As the boatmen 
and their families have a leisure time of it, advantage is taken of 
the opportunity for a general wash-up, and the linen is flapping in 
the wind from many a clothes-line. Immense quantities of mer- 
chandise reach New York and the seaboard by these barges, so that 
large numbers of flotillas of various sizes are seen on the trip down 
the river. 

New York is reached at last, and we get into a conveyance to 
take us to the " Windsor" Hotel. This ride impresses us with the 
magnitude of the place, for it takes us forty minutes to reach the 
■Windsor. It is the evening before the Fourth, when we know that 
■ all New York will be en fete in honour of the nation's independence. 
On the morning of the great day I inquired anxiously for the 
places where some of the popular orators might be heard, but was 
disappointed to find that the old " spread-eagleism" of this annual 
celebration was at an end, and there was to be no '* orating." The 
people, in fact, kept holiday just as they do in Melbourne or other 
Australian cities, and the outing was enormous. I took the elevated 
railway to the principal wharves, from whence excursion boats were 
sailing with their thousands of holiday-makers. But it was pleasure- 
seeking under difficulties, with the thermometer at 94 in the shade, 
and something fearful in the sun. After surveying the holiday 
crowds I took another '' elevated," and rode five miles through the 
city on a route different from the one already traversed, and after 
seeing as much as was to be seen returned to dinner. In the evening 
we had a ride round the Central Park, which is the favourite resort 
of the fashion in the afternoon. There are beautiful drives of about 
eight miles in length, with lakes and bowers and many pleasant 
nooks and objects of national interest. Amongst the latter is the 
Egyptian obelisk, which was brought from Egypt at an enormous 
cost to the country. It was the gift of the Khedive to the United 
States, and after being contemplated by successive generations of 
the Coptic and Semitic races for thirty-five centuries, it is now the 
object of daily interest to the people of this new and busy world. 
The evening of the Fourth was rendered lively by the fireworks, 
with which the whole city seemed ablaze. 

New York, the empire city, cannot be described in such brief 
notes as these. It is a lively, though a lesser, London. Its hotels 



24 

are palaces. Its clubs are perhaps the most English-like of its 
institutions. Its public parks and reserves and its public buildings 
are all handsome. Its countless tramcars plying in every direction, 
and its aerial railways running over the street traffic, are evidence of 
the stir and movement ever going on between the different parts of 
the city ; while the crowded Broadway and several others of the great 
arteries of traffic give still more striking proof of its busy life. To 
these must be added the great markets, busy, but dirty, and with 
cobbled roadways that are execrable ; the wharves and steamboats, 
the gigantic ferries constantly plying between New York proper and 
Brooklyn, Jersey City, and other suburbs, and the crowds arriving 
and departing. The elevated railways are a specialty of New York, 
as the underground lines are of London. The " elevated" are the 
property of two separate companies, but both are worked by a third 
company, called the " Manhattan Railway Company." There are 
thirty-two miles of railway in operation. They carry more than 
eighty millions of passengers annually, and their yearly receipts 
amount to a million and a quarter sterling. To see further into the 
business activities of the place it is necessary to go to the exchanges, 
of which there are some half-dozen. The corn exchange, for 
example, is the scene of enormous transactions, all the sales 
being effected by sample. The brokers in several of the ex- 
changes conduct their sales in such a noisy fashion that a 
stranger would imagine from their shouting and gestures that they 
were all quarrelling and challenging each other. The trade in 
petroleum is so large that it has an exchange all to itself, besides 
being dealt in at some of the others. It is an example of the 
wondrous enterprise of the New York people. The oil is obtained 
at places distant some 800 miles from New York. The railway 
people objected to have anything to do with its conveyance for 
several reasons, and the overland transit would be costly in any 
case. The enterprise of the oilmen, however, overcame all 
difficulties. They laid 800 miles of pipes through mountains 
and rivers, and the oil is thus poured into New York. 
Some 340,000 gallons of oil are always on the way in the pipes. 
The producer delivers a certain quantity at the head of the pipeway, 
for which he gets his certificate. These certificates are posted to 
New York and sold. When the holder of a certificate wants 
delivery he goes to the depot at New York and gets it. Of course 
there is an immense business always doing in refining, canning, and 
shipping the oil to all parts of the world. The suburbs around New 
York contain together a larger population than the city itself. There 
is Brooklyn, famed for its cemetery, which is one of the finest in the 
world ; noted also as the scene of the labours of Henry Ward Beecher, 
its great pre.icher and orator. There are also Jersey City, Newark, 
Long Island, Williamsburgh, &c. The aggregate population of the 
combined cities is about three millions. New York abounds in 



25 

-churches, and most of them are very highly ornamented and decorated 
internally. In the Fifth Avenue, from the balcony of the Windsor 
Hotel, may be seen some ten or a dozen spires, more or less hand- 
some, while close by is the unfinished E. C. Cathedral of white 
marble, which, when completed, will be one of the finest churches in 
America. Its newspaper offices are conspicuous by their loftiness 
and the number of their windows. In every one of the traffic 
thoroughfares the lager-beer houses are so numerous as to challenge 
attention. In the hot thirsty weather of this season the consumption 
is doubtless very great, although there are but few signs of drunken- 
ness in the streets. It is said there are some 4000 lager-beer 
houses, and a still larger number of other liquor-shops. Of the 
habits and peculiarities of the people I cannot speak here. They 
have been the subject of extravagant caricatures on the part of 
Englishmen, but they are undoubtedly the cleverest and most 
enterprising people in the world. 

Although we had accomplished the feat of crossing the continent 
from west to east, and had seen some of its most interesting scenery 
and its most important centres of population and trade, we had still 
seen only a srnall portion of America. Of its railways — now more 
than a hundred thousand miles in length — we had only traversed a 
little over five thousand ; of its rivers and lakes we had seen only a 
part, and by no means a large part. Of its southern states, the 
ancient seat of slavery, we had seen nothing. Moreover, we had 
not visited its ancient metropolis or its present political capital. I 
determined, therefore, to take a run down south to Philadelphia, 
Baltimore, and Washington. This I did alone, for the heat in New 
York was too oppressive for the ladies of our party, and they, with 
other friends and fellow-travellers, left for England in advance of 
me. In Philadelphia I expected to find traces of its . original 
character as " the Quaker city," but beyond a very few old cottage 
bonnets I was disappointed. It is a busy city, with unmistakably 
fine public buildings, well laid-out streets, numerous tramways, and 
attractive parks and places of resort. Fairmount Park, where the 
International Exhibition was held, is an extensive domain with 
pretty drives, and the more substantial portion of the exhibition 
buildings remains, and is converted into a museum containing many 
objects of great interest. The new city hall and buildings, when 
completed, will be amongst the handsomest buildings in the States. 
The Delaware River, which runs around the city, gives water com- 
munication with the sea, and a large shipping trade is carried on. 
All the external vestiges of Quaker life have disappeared, and the 
existence of any remains of the grand old settlers would not be 
suspected but for their meeting-houses. In the principal hotels a 
list of places of worship is exhibited in the hall, and these meeting- 
houses of the Friends catch the eye. If any of the mannerisms of 
the Quakers are to be found still amongst men of business, I did 



2:6 

not come in contact with any of them. Baltimore is a substantial, 
business-like, and rapidly growing city, with many signs of pros- 
perity, but fewer public buildings and objects to interest strangers. 
It is, therefore, seen to disadvantage after the more showy towns 
previously mentioned. 

Washington astonished me. I had expected to find a quiet town, 
with the White House of the President (which I thought would be 
severely simple) and the Capitol. It is not a mere quiet town but 
a most beautiful city. Its public buildings, taken altogether, are 
equal to those of any city in the world, and its avenues and streets 
radiating in every direction, and lined with trees, which were then 
in all the beauty of their summer verdure, gave such an air of pure 
freshness to the view, that, look where you would, the sight was 
quite enchanting. The Capitol, with its dome rivalling that of St. 
Paul's, and its great wings and colonnades approached by lofty flights 
of steps, and all of white marble, is a most imposing structure. It 
is of the Corinthian order of architecture, and occupying, as 
it does, the finest position about the city, it not only commands 
the most extensive and comprehensive view of the town, the sur- 
rounding hills, and the Potomac River, which winds round portions 
of the town, but is itself one of the most conspicuous objects from 
the country around, as well as from portions of the city. This 
grand edifice is upwards of 750 feet in length. The great extent of 
front has a tendency to dwarf the building to the eye, although the 
height is really in full proportion to the other dimensions j either of 
the wings alone or the centre alone would be an imposing building. 
The two chambers in which the Parliament assemble are rather dis- 
appointing after so grand an exterior. The rotunda under the 
dome has some fine national paintings and statuary, and the library 
is extensive. There are many objects of great interest about the 
building. Since it was commenced, in 1800, it has cost fifteen 
million dollars. The park and grounds about it are well laid out, 
and well kept. I can do little more than mention some of the 
other public buildings, as any description would convey but a very 
imperfect idea of their character. The White House, which is the 
official residence of the President, is scarcely equal to the Govern- 
ment houses provided by the Australian colonies for their respective 
Governors. It is, however, a very nice building, standing in 
grounds comprising about 80 acres, laid out in walks and drives, 
and ornamented with fountains and shrubs. The great reception- 
room is 80 x 40, and 22 feet high. There are three other state 
rooms — the green room, the blue room, and the red room ; the 
colour of the last is that of terra cotta. The view from the win- 
dows at the rear of the house is extremely pretty. When a large 
ball is given, some other building has to be used. Near the White 
House is a magnificent pile not quite finished, containing the offices 
of the state, war and navy departments. It is about 580 feet long. 



27 

by a width of 340. On the other side of the White House, and at 
no great distance, is the Treasury. It is of the Grecian-Ionia 
order, with porticos, grand pilasters, and massive granite termi- 
nations to the wings. The outer courts are very beautiful. The 
Patent Office is built in the Doric style of architecture. Its fine 
central portico is approached by a massive flight of steps, and 
its bold but plain projecting wings give the whole a majestic 
appearance. There are also the city hall (a very fine building), 
the post-office, the Howard University, the agricultural department, 
the National Museum, the Smithsonian Institution, the great con- 
servatory, the botanical gardens, the arsenal, the navy yard, several 
hospitals and similar institutions, and several beautiful parks and 
monuments. The greatest monument of all is the column now in 
course of erection in honour of Washington. It is an immense 
obelisk, and when finished will be 550 feet in height. The contents 
of some of the buildings I have mentioned have more interest 
attaching to them than the buildings themselves. Here every relic 
of the great struggle for independence is preserved. There are 
appropriate tributes to the memory of those who fell in the disastrous 
conflict between the south and the north, but of course everything 
that would tend to keep open the old sore is kept out of view. The 
battle-grounds of that sanguinary contention will long tell of its 
triumphs and defeats, but the fewer memorials of it presented to the 
eye the better. As to the great war of 1812, the pride of the 
Americans over its achievements is perfectly natural and allowable, 
and they find a mode of expressing that pride which does them 
honour. If ever hero-worship was excusable, it is so in the case of 
General Washington. He was the truest patriot known in history, 
and on« of the noblest specimens of our race. The devotion of this 
people to his memory is really touching. Upon his monument is 
inscribed: " Greatest in war — greatest in peace — greatest in the 
hearts of his countrymen ;" and so he is. The very garments that 
he wore — his sword, his gloves, his camp utensils, his tent, the 
furniture of his houseware all to be seen in the museums. More 
than that, I had the pleasure of looking over in the State depart- 
ment a long series of volumes, in which are bound up every scrap 
that could be collected of his writing — not only the letters of 
his manhood, his generalship, and his statesmanship, but the lessons 
of his school days, his earliest attempts at surveying and sketching, 
his diary and accounts of daily expenditure, for so methodical and 
conscientious was he that from these autograph records you may not 
only read his whole life-history, but also make up an account of all 
the money that he ever spent. Where are to be found the records 
of another life (merely human) that can bear so fierce a light ? I 
left Washington with more regret than I had felt at leaving any 
other place in the States. 

My visit to the south did not complete my programme, but I had 



28 . 

arranged to visit Boston (where friends were ready to welcome me), 
and to take the fashionable Newport on my way. There were, how- 
ever, so many things yet to be seen and done in New York that I 
had at last reluctantly to give up Boston. Amongst the things 
engaging my attention in New York was the electric lighting, and 
I had the gratification of making the acquaintance of that wonderful 
genius, Mr. Edison, and was permitted to see through his works at 
Newark. It was to me intensely interesting. There are upwards 
of forty different inventions connected with the Edison lamp, and 
collaterally over 200 processes. 

I may say generally that in my visits to all the great centres 
my time was largely occupied in gathering information, and my 
reception by public officials of all classes, especially at the head 
establishments at Washington, always was most courteous and 
cordial. If time had permitted I could have learned a great deal 
more, but I must console myself with the conviction that I can give 
a good account of the thirty-eight days devoted to " seeing America." 
I was fortunate in being able to secure (with my friend and fellow- 
traveller, Major Flood Page) a cabin on board the " Servia," Cunard 
steamer (the finest of the fleet), leaving New York for Liverpool on 
July 18. 



29 



ACEOSS THE ATLANTIC. 



On Wednesday, 18th July, the Cunard steamship " Servia" slipped 
her moorings at the company's wharf, New York, and was towed 
out into the fairway by three of the harbour tug-boats. At six she 
passed out to sea by " Sandy Hook," and thus commenced her run 
across to Liverpool, Queenstpwn being taken on the way. The 
" Seryia" is not an ordinary ship ; apart from the " Great Eastern," 
she is the largest commercial steamship afloat. It is not many years 
ago (when the graving-dock at Melbourne was about to be com- 
pleted) that I ascertained, for the information of the Chamber of 
Commerce and the Government^ that ships were then on the slip in 
some of the shipyards of England and Scotland exceeding 400 feet 
in length. The " Servia" measures, over all, 580 feet. Her breadth 
is 52 feet, and her depth 40 feet 9 inches ; her gross measurement 
is 8500 tons ! and her indicated horsepower is 10^500 in the aggre- 
gate ! This giant steamship is built entirely of steel, and her 
engines and cylinders are, of course, of the most perfect modern 
construction. She is lighted throughout with the electric light. 
The "Servia," in short, marks the advanced point in the scientific 
progress of the century, and its application to the commercial inter- 
course of the world. On her trial trip she made an average speed 
of 17 J knots an hour, and has often performed the run between 
Liverpool and New York and vice versa in eight days. Westerly 
gales and rough weather had prevailed in the Atlantic during the 
preceding week or two ; but the four hundred and odd saloon 
passengers, and their poorer companions in the steerage, started in 
high spirits, and in full confidence that the grand ship would behave 
well under any circumstances. The weather was hot and oppressive 
when we left New York. It was not much cooler out at sea, and 
the second day was warmer still ; on the third day, however, a 
bracing wind dissipated the mugginess of the atmosphere, and the 
decks became extremely enjoyable. The few bad sailors who cannot, 
under any circumstances, escape a taste of the mal de mer, were by 
this time getting over their trouble, and the decks and saloon were 
crowded. The spacious dining-saloon, which extends the whole 
width of the ship, and is about 75 feet long, with five rows of tables, 
cannot accommodate all the passengers at once, so we had two 
dinner parties, one at five, the other at a quarter-past six. The table 
was scarcely up to my expectations. We had a mixed lot of 



30 

passengers ; most of them, however, were Americans visiting the^ 
British dominions on business or pleasm'e. There were men of 
letters and men of business — authors, clergymen, merchants, specu- 
lators, judges, the commodore of the American fleet, the Bishop of 
Huron (Canada), and M. du Chailu, thfe gorilla catcher. The con- 
sumption of tobacco was enormous, and I was rather surprised to 
find American ladies so much addicted to suppers. We had a few 
musical people, and every evening there was more or less music. 
On Sunday, the fourth day out, we had a full morning service, and 
an admirable sermon from the Bishop of Huron, with hymns, &c., 
in the evening. Each succeeding day brought a repetition of fine 
weather and a quiet sea. At times there was sea enough on to dis- 
turb the equanimity of an ordinary sized vessel, but the " Servia" 
disregarded it entirely, and went on her even way. When the wind 
allowed it we had mounted some sail ; but the canvas did not pro- 
bably add a knot in twelve hours to the ship's speed, though it helped 
to keep her on an even keel. 

We made the port of Queenstown, near Cork, at about four 
o'clock in the morning, and the mails were landed there, whence 
they went by rail to Dublin and across to Holyhead. A consider- 
able proportion of the passengers landed at Queenstown, so that the 
Lakes of Killarney and Blarney Castle had no doubt an unusual 
number of visitors during the few days following. The evening 
preceding our arrival off Queenstown was rendered very agreeable by 
a parting concert and dramatic readings. The steam up the Irish 
Channel was very enjoyable under a brilliant sky ; and on the 
evening of Friday, 27th July, we landed in Liverpool, and after 
a run of less than eight days (allowing for the difference in time 
between Liverpool and !New York) we were once more in dear old 
England. 



31 



A TRIP TO HOLLAND, BELGIUM, THE GERMAN RHINE 
PROVINCES, PARIS, &c. 



It was in the first week of September, 1883, that I left London for 
a run to the Amsterdam Exhibition — to which I was an honorary 
commissioner for Victoria — and to such other places of interest as I 
could visit in a three weeks' tour. An evening ride by rail to 
Harwich brought me to the steamer which was to convey me across 
the Channel to Kotterdam, and by about midnight I was snugly 
berthed, and was soon sleeping and dreaming as pleasantly as one 
can be expected to sleep and dream over a grinding propeller and 
within an enclosed shelf 6 ft. x 2 ft. There was a calm sea, and 
between seven and eight the next morning I was on deck taking a 
look at the '* Hock van Holland," at the mouth of the River Maas 
(or, as the French call it, the Meuse). The two hours which are 
spent in steaming up to Rotterdam are very agreeably occupied in 
observing the great variety of the craft, large and small, that are 
sailing or steaming or being towed up or down the river ; as also 
the canals and towns on either side, and the dams and dykes 
erected along the river side for the protection of the low-lying lands, 
which constitute a large portion of the interior. One of the towns 
passed is Brielle, a small fortified place. The Customs officer comes 
on board from this place, and the baggage is all examined before 
reaching Rotterdam. Holland, as everybody knows, is a very flat 
country, with '' water, water everywhere." Very little of the land 
is seen, therefore, from the river. Occasional glimpses of spires, 
chimneys, and windmills alternate with the small towns and ports. 
Schiedam is the largest of these. A forest of chimneys rises from 
its 200 distilleries, scores of windmills aid in the operations, and 
hundreds of barges line the banks of the canal which runs through 
the town. Here is manufactured the " Hollands" and " schnapps" 
which are intended to lubricate the throats of millions in both 
hemispheres, not always in as innocuous a condition as that in 
which it leaves the Maas. While the liquor supplies the demands 
of human topers, the refuse grain is said to maintain 30,000 pigs. 

Rotterdam. — The landing-quay at Rotterdam is not very 
unlike those of other ports, and I was rather surprised to 
find that part of the town very like ether continental towns. 
The quaint and antique style, which I had always thought 



32 

to be the prevailing characteristic of the place, is really the 
exception. There is undoubtedly a certain peculiarity about the 
architecture, which is more striking to an arrival from 
England than it would be to a traveller from the chief 
European cities. The one thing that does command special 
notice is the number and extent of the canals. Rotterdam is in 
that respect an exaggerated Venice, and yet it is unHke Venice. 
Every canal has a street on one side of it, and in many cases on 
both sides. The locomotion, therefore, is on land, and not, as in 
Venetian gondolas, on the water. There are, however, canal barges, 
and these may be numbered by the hundred, if not by the thousand, 
and a numerous population live entirely upon them. The women on 
these barges appear to be always very busy during the earher part of 
the day, cleaning, washing, or cooking. They seem to have a passion 
for scrubbing, as indeed do the Dutch women on shore also. I had 
opportunities of studying the boat population from my window,, 
which overlooked a canal ; and I observed that, like ladies in other 
walks of life, the barge women dress for dinner, or immediately after 
dinner, and appeared on their short decks in quite gay attire. The 
city contains a few fine buildings, but not many. The cathedral is a 
heavy-looking structure. There are picture galleries, and an arcade, 
which is one of the prettiest in Europe, but very small. At the 
*' Zoo" there are some fine animals, and I was pleased at recognising 
a number of my countrymen. There were dingoes and marsupials, 
parrots and budgeregows, as well as Australian shrubs, and a giant 
specimen of a tree-fern from Victoria. The dress of the ordinary 
people is similar to that of other Europeans. The " balloon" con- 
tinuations of the traditional Dutchman are nowhere to be seen, but 
there are some quaint and picturesque costumes among certain 
classes of the women. 

The Hague is the most charming place in Holland. It is the 
Washington of the Netherlands. The " Hotel du Vieux Doelen," 
where I stayed, is an old-fashioned but aristocratic and extremely 
comfortable house. About a hundred visitors were in the hotel with 
me, most of whom were English, and the rest were not distinguish- 
able from English until they began to talk. The Hague has its 
squares fuU of shady walks and attractive lounges; its park, or, as it 
is called, the " Bosch," which sounds most inappropriate to English 
ears, for it includes a pretty deer-park, and two or three miles of 
forest, with the most perfect Gothic avenues, chiefly elms, some 
single, some in double lines, some triplicated, but all "long drawn," 
sometimes a mile in length, "high over-arched, and echoing walks 
between." These are often intersected by fish-ponds and small 
canals with swans and water-fowl. There is a large pavilion in this 
wood where music and refreshments are provided as attractions to 
the townspeople, and tramcars run through to Leyden and Scheven- 
ingen. The latter is the fashionable seaside resort. It is a charm- 



33 

ing place, reached by a twenty minutes' car ride, and lias numerous 
restaurants, cafes, &c., at some of which bands of music perform 
during the afternoon and evening. The cafes al fresco are quite 
French-like — db la Champs Elysee. And to see the people taking 
their pleasure at these places and along the beautiful esplanade is 
enough to divest our minds at once of that ideal Dutchman whom 
in imagination we have known from our childhood. The fashionable 
part of Scheveningen is the east or north-east end, but at the other 
end the fishermen have their homes, and these fisher people (like 
their class in many other parts of the world) are very conservative 
in their dress and habits, and are an entertaining study. The little 
girls of five years and upwards are little women in appearance, 
their dresses extending to their feet and hands, with quaint muslin 
or linen caps coming almost down upon their shoulders, and both 
sleeves and petticoats are expanded like barrels. The women wear 
the most curious head-gear. Those who can afford it have planished 
silver skull-caps, fitting closely all round the head, with translucent 
caps of lace or muslin over the silver. Some of the more aristocratic 
of this class indulge even in bright gold helmets instead of silver, 
and some have large gold or silver pins extending horizontally from 
the head, and from which glittering ornaments are suspended. 

The churches at the Hague are not conspicuous for their beauty. 
I attended the cathedral — a very plain building — and heard an 
eloquent preacher, evidently a natural orator, • although I couldn't 
understand a word of what he said. At the English Church, a 
pretty structure, there was but a small congregation, and I wished 
the preacher (whom I could understand) had possessed a little of the 
fervour and eloquence which had been to me but a dumb show in the 
cathedral. There are some fine collections of paintings in the 
palaces and private galleries at the Hague, and the interiors of some 
of the palaces are well worth inspecting. During my stay I saw a 
review of six thousand infantry by the commander-in-chief. 

Amsterdam. — A fine city is Amsterdam. Like Kotterdam, it 
abounds in canals, but not quite so largely in proportion to the 
houses and streets. It is by far the most populous and wealthy city 
of Holland. It has two rivers, the Amstel and the Y, the latter- 
being an offshoot of the Zuyder Zee. It has four principal canals — 
the Prinsen Gracht, Keizers Gracht, Heeren Gracht, and Singel — but 
it has hundreds of smaller canals, which cut up the city into scores 
of islands, connected by drawbridges. It is said to have no less than 
330 bridges. It possesses some beautiful parks and promenades, a 
botanic garden and Crystal Palace, with some handsome churches, 
banks, markets, exchanges, &c. A peculiarity of Dutch houses is 
the large amount of their window-light. There is a greater portion 
of window than brick in a house front. The chief centre of attrac- 
tion during my visit was the International Exhibition, which I 
attended as a commissioner. It was a great success, and was vastly 



84 

more attractive than I liad expected to find. France, Russia, Bel- 
gium, and tlie Dutch colonies were largely represented ; England 
very little. The colonies of Victoria and New South Wales made a 
small show. They were good as far as they went, and attracted 
much notice. Our Victorian exhibits carried off a full share of 
prizes and medals. I was greatly astonished at the magnitude of 
its collection of paintings and works of art. Several hours were 
required for even a comparatively hasty glance at the contents 
of the various rooms and galleries, and amongst the exhibits were 
many very valuable works. One portion of the Exhibition was 
quite unique. It was the comprehensive illustrations of life in 
Netherlands-India. A part of the Exhibition grounds was divided 
off into enclosures by fences of a peculiar kind, mostly of bamboos, 
and within the enclosures were houses of various kinds, also for the 
most part of bamboo, just as. they are to be seen in Java, with 
native residents following their ordinary occupations and mode of 
life. In some places were the vehicles in use by the natives of Java, 
with their agricultural implements and their horses and oxen. On 
the miniature lakes and canals were boats of the country, with 
native boys working them, and giving illustrations of their modes of 
fishing, &c. In a kiosk not far from the cane houses were a native 
band of Javanese musicians going through some rather dreary per- 
formances, while dancing girls and men postured to the slow time of 
the minstrel players. Sometimes a single girl, in her richly bordered 
dress, and with her Indian scarf of many colours, would exhibit her 
rather graceful steps and gestures after the manner of the Indian 
nautch-girl. All their dances, however, were slow, and the scarf 
with the females, and other corresponding accessories on the part of 
the male dancers, contributed largely to the action of each. In 
addition to these living and full-sized representations outside, there 
was an extensive building filled with models and figures, large and 
small, of everything connected with life in Java, and the industries 
and productions of the country. 

The most entertaining part of this exhibition to such a visitor as 
myself was undoubtedly the sight of the people who flocked into 
the place in a living stream on each of the days I was there, in all 
the glory of their holiday attire. My old acquaintances of Scheven- 
ingen, with their silver helmets, were there ; but as each province or 
town has its own peculiar head-dress for its women-folk, there were 
great varieties of this kind of skull-cap, and many of the young 
people carried their dowries upon their heads in gold and silver 
ornaments. Some of them wore horns of black ribbon projecting 
from the gold plates, and others had hats of fearful and wonderful 
build, some very much resembling an old-fashioned coal-scuttle, 
but brown, or some dark colour, with the larger concavity down- 
wards. The ornaments in some cases were exceedingly curious — 
spiral gold wire standing up on each side of the head, or glistening 



35 

drops depending from projecting bars of gold or silver, or enormous 
pins, with ornamental heads or ends. Some of the women wore 
simple muslin caps, while there were others who (as in some parts of 
France) wore nothing at all. They evidently trust to the natural 
protection of their ample hair, and appear to believe in the axiom 
that " beauty unadorned's adorned the most.'" The men were 
almost all dressed in dark blue cloth — evidently their best — but in 
different styles of tailoring. Here, and here only, one caught a 
glimpse of the (modified) knickerbocker of the traditional Dutch- 
man, and which are still worn by the intensely conservative people 
of the island of Marken. (A chapter might be written about the 
peculiarities of these and other island Diijtch, but I cannot find room 
for it here.) The whole of the peasant peoples, whom I saw coming 
in from the provinces, carried with them the evidences of frugality, 
simplicity, and plodding industry. They live upon very small 
incomes, and yet the able-bodied appear to regard as a first charge 
on their earnings the support of the aged and helpless of their own 
households. Amongst the peculiar uniforms of the city I ought 
not to omit mention of the dresses of the "orjDhans.''' Amsterdam 
is distinguished by its numerous orphanages, and similar benevolent 
institutions. Troops of thes# orphans are therefore met daily in 
their rather quaint costumes. 

One of the great features of Amsterdam is its diamond-cutting 
establishments. A very large capital must be embarked in this 
peculiar trade, and it is said that one-half of the diamonds imported 
into Europe annually iind their way to one establishment in 
Amsterdam for cutting and polishing. It was here that the 
Koh-i-noor was polished. 

Amongst the wonders of Amsterdam should be mentioned the 
great North Sea Canal, which was commenced about twenty years 
ago, and was opened in 1876, and now connects the port with the 
ocean. It has to a great extent diverted the traffic from the grand 
Ship Canal of North Holland. It is only about sixteen miles in 
length, while the older canal is over fifty miles long. It is about 
200 feet wide, and will accommodate vessels drawing 23 feet of 
water. Its cost was two millions sterling. The very existence of 
Amsterdam, however, is dependent on its great earthworks and 
sluices for keeping out the sea and regulating the water communi- 
cation ; for at high water the level of the outer ocean is considerably 
above that of the river Amstel and the Y. Hence it has been 
necessary to construct many miles of banks for the protection of the 
principal canals connecting the port with the sea. 

Interesting and unique as is this curious old city to the visitor 
and the excursionist, with its many waters, its high-peaked gables, 
its tree-lined and shaded streets and wharves, its campaniles and 
clock-towers, its gardens and groves, bridges and embankments, yet 
it is not a desirable place of residence. The difficulty of preventing 

D 



36 

the numerous canals from becoming stagnant and the receptacles 
of sewage, detracts to a great extent from the salubrity of the atmos- 
phere, and the inodorous exhalations suggest too favourable conditions 
for the generation and spread of some dread epidemic. There is 
fortunately one counteracting influence which pervades this and most 
of the Dutch towns, namely, the scrupulous cleanliness of the inha- 
bitants and their houses. In some instances it is a perfect passion 
with the women. At the little town of Broek, on the ISTorth Hol- 
land canal, the care of each housewife to prevent the introduction of 
anything into the house which would soil even the floor becomes 
almost a burlesque. There the best parlour is a bijou. Every 
article is arranged with scrupulous care, and the room is only 
used for weddings or funerals. The visitor on entering a house must 
leave his boots at the door, and put his feet into clean slippers. The 
houses are kept clean painted inside and out, and the little forecourt 
is paved with encaustic tiles. The family china and the linen may 
be seen in the cupboards, carefully arranged, but not a soiled article 
is visible. Smoking in a house is, of course, prohibited, and the 
very cowhouses are tiled and drained, so that nothing offensive is 
allowed to remain. 

In traversing the country one soon gets to understand the chief 
conditions of rural life in Holland. You see very few roads, and 
scarcely any vehicles employed in the transit of heavy goods ; 
but you perpetually find yourself crossing or running parallel with 
canals on which the carrying business of the country is conducted. 
Most of these canals are above the level of the adjacent lands, which 
are for the most part low and flat, and would be very uninteresting'- 
but for the clumps of timber which dot the plains, from amidst 
which you generally see spires and chimneys, indicating a small 
population, while in every direction windmills are seen, which are 
employed, some for raising the waters of the low-lying lands which 
are discharged into the higher canals, and some are mills for flour 
and meal. The farmhouses do not look like desirable places of 
residence, being mostly built upon slightly raised ground, but having 
in their immediate surroundings more attractions for ducks and geese 
and the wading herons than for land animals or bipeds of the human 
species. The drains and dykes that intersect the country every- 
where show that if the land has not been reclaimed from the water 
it is only saved from inundation by an elaborate system such as no 
other country possesses — because there is no other country whicli 
exists under similar conditions. 

Into Germany. — From Amsterdam I took the railway for 
Cologne, passing through some rather interesting towns, such as 
Arnhem, Wesel, and Diisseldorf. The latter is at the junction of 
the Diissell and the Hhine, and is one of the prettiest of the 
Rhenish towns. From thence it is but a short journey to 

Cologne. — Here in the Hotel IloUande I found myself looking* 
down from my window on to the flowing Rhine, with the river 



37 

steamers lying immediately below me, and a little on the left the 
Bridge of Boats, by which, as well as by an iron bridge beyond it, 
you can cross to the large subm-b of Deutz, on the opposite side. 
This ancient town of Cologne possesses many objects of interest. 
Until lately it was celebrated not only for the famous eau de 
Cologne of Johann Maria Farina, but for its other odorous eau of 
the sewers. Coleridge was not the only detector of these malodours, 
for his lines have been used a thousand times to describe them and 
some other of his impressions of the place. He said : — 

In Coin, that town of monks and bones, 
And pavements fanged with murderous stones, 
And rags and hags and hideous wenches, 
I counted two and seventy stenches, 
All well defined and genuine stinks. 

In quoting Coleridge^s lines at this time of day, however, it should 
only be for the purpose of saying that they have lost nearly all their 
application, for the old town has undergone many improvements in 
recent years, notably in the matter of drainage. Its "monks" are 
not particularly conspicuous, although in two or three of the old 
churches are still preserved large collections of " bones" — some of 
them of supposed martyrs — arranged fantastically and ornamented in 
some cases elaborately. The '^ murderous stones" are still there, 
although perhaps less "fanged" in the better parts of the city; and 
as for its " hags" and "wenches," though they may appear " hideous" 
to some fastidious foreigners, they (particularly the market women) 
are considered picturesque by others. The great sight of Cologne is 
the Cathedral, which is one of the world's wonders. Commenced in 
the thirteenth century, it may be said to have been only recently 
finished, for while some of the older work has been restored, some 
additions have been made, to give complete effect to the design of 
the original architect. The whole of the exterior commands uni- 
versal admiration for the exquisite beauty of its details, while the 
two towers, surmounted by open-worked spires, are the highest in the 
world. The interior is rich in sculpture and fresco-mosaics ; but its 
chief glory is its wonderful windows of stained glass, representing 
scriptural subjects in extremely quaint designs, most of them very 
ancient and very unreal. 

Some of the other churches boast of relics of great value. For 
example, in the Church of St. Ursula a portion of the building is 
decorated with the bones of the ten thousand virgins said to have 
been murdered with the saint ; and it has also a jar which is said to 
have been one of the vessels used at the marriage feast at Cana of 
Galilee, when the water was turned into wine ! 

Many of the public buildings of Cologne testify to the antiquity 
of the place. For example, the Kathhaus bears on one of its fronts 
restored inscriptions, acknowledging the benefits bestowed on the 
town by the Emperors Julius Caesar, Agrippa, and others. In the 

D 2 



38 

Hanseatic Hall of this building are some very curious old sculp- 
tures, representing the worthies of the Old Testament ; and in the 
portal are figures of lions, commemorating, it is said, the wicked- 
ness of one of their bishops, who invited the burgomaster to 
dinner, but had a lion in the room to devour him. The clever 
burgomaster, however, thrust one arm down the lion's throat, while 
with the other he drew his rapier, and stabbed the beast through 
the heart. 

There is a very fine monument to Frederick William III. in 
one of the market places. It is a colossal equestrian statue, and 
around the pedestal are the most celebrated of the warriors and 
statesmen of Germany of the last generation. 

The ride from Cologne to Bonn by rail is more interesting than 
that by water, and it takes only a third of the time. Some curious 
old towns are passed on the way, including Rheindorf, with its 
peculiar church of two stories. Why so built nobody seems able 
to explain. It is eight centuries old. 

Bonn has a history which dates far back into that of the Roman 
Empire, and connects it with many a conflict from those days ex- 
tending all along the centuries. Its walks and avenues are very 
pretty, and many of its public buildings are handsome. In the 
CJathedral- square is a statue of Beethoven, which was unveiled in 
the presence of our Qaeen Victoria in 1845. 

The Rhine. — The beauties of the Rhine scenery may be said to 
commence here. This glorious river is so well known in these 
days of travel, and has been so abundantly illustrated, that I shall 
only refer to some of its more striking objects, and that very 
briefly. Nevertheless, I am impelled to give utterance to the deep 
and pleasurable impressions which, in common with almost every 
visitor, I experienced on my first trip up the Rhine. Its beauties 
have inspired many a bard before Byron, but he seems to have had 
the happiest mode of expressing the English excursionist's feeling. 
He describes the river as 

A blending of all beauties ; streams and dells, 

Fruit, foliage, cr'ag, wood, cornfield, mountain, vine, 
And chiefless castles breathing stern farewells 
From grey but leafy walls, where ruin dwells. 

The first great attraction on the left side of the river is *' the 
castled crag- of Drachenfels," frowning from its rugged elevation of 
a thousand feet. This eminence is reached from the charming 
little town of Ko nigs winter. It is associated with several very 
romantic legends. 

On the opposite bank, a little further on, is a pretty little place 
called Rolandseck, and on the hill above it is a ruin, which is all 
that remains of its ancient castle. The legend attached to it (for 
these ruins have each and all their separate legends) is so touching 
that I am half tempted to find room for it. Up as far as Unkel, 



39 

on the left side, the river widens, and the views of its lake-like 
expanse, with its islands and riverside villages and the receding 
drachenfels, charm the traveller exceedingly. After passing a 
bend in the river at Unkel, the steamer reaches on the right side 
the ancient little town of Remagen, but a little before arriving off 
Remagen we pass the now famous spring from which the Appol- 
linaris water is obtained. It is not many years since this spring 
was occasionally resorted to by the people of the neighbourhood 
for the purpose of presenting to their friends small samples of its 
mineral water. A well-known public man in London partook of 
a bottle of it one day at the house of a friend, and was so greatly 
struck with its quality that he inquired as to the whereabouts of 
the spring. A few weeks later he astonished his friend at a 
return dinner by asking his opinion of a bottle from his (the 
host's) own spring ! He had in the meantime been to Germany and 
purchased the spring. As the reward of his enterprise a com- 
pany is now employing large numbers of hand?, a fleet of boats, 
with horses, carts, and, I believe, bottle-works for the supply of 
the world's demand for Appollinaris water. 

Opposite to Remagen is Erpel and its cliffs^ and a little further 
the ruined castle of Ockenfels, and further on is the handsome 
modern castle of Arenfels. From this point we get a glimpse of 
the castle of Rheineck, partly ancient and partly modern. Its 
situation is a very charming one, commanding extensive views. 
Other ruins are passed, and presently we are off the ancient and 
interesting town of Andernach, with its old fortifications and its 
many attractions. *' The legend of Andernach" is a grotesque 
invention of the old priests, but much too long for these notes. 
A little further on is Neuwied, in the neighbourhood of which is 
a settlement of those devoted men, the Moravian Brethren. I 
must hasten by several miles of interesting sights and land at 
Coblentz, which is at the confluence of the Moselle and the 
Rhine. 

Coblentz fronts the Rhine on the east side, the Moselle on the 
north, and is protected by fortifications on the west and south. 
It has a fine palace, some other good buildings and churches, a 
beautiful promenade, and some picturesque views about both 
rivers. It is the great centre of the Rhine and Moselle wine 
trade, and I was indebted to the hospitable attentions and friendly 
offices of the heads of the great house of Deinard and Company 
for much interesting information concerning this great industry, 
and whose underground town of vaulted cellars, with their count- 
less stacks and hogsheads, constituted one of the most striking 
objects seen in my travels. I had, moreover, the advantage of 
seeing the careful and skilful processes by which the wines of the 
district are here prepared for the markets of the world. 

From the opposite side of the Rhine the famous fortress of 



40 

Ehrenbreitstein, one of the most perfect strongholds in Europe, 
frowns down upon the town of Coblentz. It is built upon a 
rockj height, which rises precipitously for nearly 400 feet from 
the river bank. It may well be called the " Gibraltar of the 
Khine," and to a civilian appears simply impregnable. 

Of the other riverside castles and towers I must speak in 
describing my return down the Rhine from Mayence, for I left 
Coblentz by rail, crossing the river by a high-level girder bridge, 
and following the eastern bank as far as Riidesheim, nearly oppo- 
site to Bingen. I took this journey, at the suggestion of my 
Coblentz friends, for a double purpose — to see the great national 
monument " Germania," then near completion, on the heights of 
the Niederwald, and to visit the principal vineyards in this the 
most important district of the wine industry. It is here that it 
may, indeed, be appropriately said of the '* winding Khine" that 

Her breast of waters broadly swells 

Between the banks which bear the vine, 

And hills all rich with blossom'd trees, 
And fields which promise corn and wine. 

« 

From Riidesheim, after passing through its quaint, narrow 
streets, I was driven up the steep zigzag roads ascending the slopes 
of the Niederwald. Some of the finest of the Rhine vineyards were 
jjassed on the way, but this particular drive had special attractions, 
for it brought me to the grand colossal monument, " Germania," 
which the Emperor was to unveil a week or two later in the 
presence of all the magnates of the nation. It was then receiving 
its finishing touches. The view from it up the river is very 
extended, but a much finer view down the river is obtained from a 
ruined tower, which crowns a hill at a distance of a mile or two 
from the monument. After returning to Riidesheim, I took train 
to Geisenheim, a very ancient and quaint town, where I had friends 
to conduct me through the chief vineyards of the famed slopes of 
Johannisberg. The castle (as it is called, though it is not a cas- 
tellated building) was for several years the residence of the late 
Prince Metternich, and the Princess usually spends several months 
of the year there still. The most costly wines of Germany are 
some of those that are grown in the vineyards of the castle, and of 
German families of distinction in the immediate neighbourhood. 
A splendid view is obtained from the garden balcony in front of 
tlie castle, which commands the Rhine all the way up to Mayence. 
After re-descending the slopes and spending a few hours with my 
friends in Geisenheim, I took train for Mayence, which I reached 
late at night. 

Mayence (or, in German, Mainz) is a strongly fortified town. 
Coming from peaceful England, and still more peaceful Australia, 
the sight of a nation armed to the teeth is a novelty. It is not one, 
however, which suggests pleasurable reflections. Instead of learning 



41 

the art of loving one another after nearly nineteen centuries of 
Christian teaching, here are enlightened peoples devoting their 
energies to the attainment of the highest arts of mutual slaughter. 
Throughout France and Germany this is more or less observable, 
but at certain strategic points — the keys of provinces — it is im- 
possible to avoid being struck with it. Such a point is Mayence. 
The town bristles with defensive works, and stores filled with war 
material. Overits very portals the German eagle appears to be brood- 
ing over nests of cannon balls built amid piles of guns and mortars, 
"while at every turn sentinels are pacing, and small detachments 
of military are marching and countermarching. The town is con- 
nected with the opposite shore of the Rhine by a bridge which has 
a fortified tower at each end, but the bridge in general use is a 
bridge of boats, 600 yards in length, which can be separated into 
detached pieces at a very short notice. The town of Kastel, facing 
Mayence, is more a fortress than a town. While the old castles 
and fortified hill-tops of the Rhine tell of wars and conflicts in the 
past, this modern Mayence, faced and flanked as it is with bastions 
and bulwarks, moats and fosses, tells of the mutual hate and 
the lust of power of modern rulers and people. The German 
military officer is a great dandy, and very proud of his uniform ; 
such, indeed, is the passion for uniforms that every fourth man in 
Mayence appears to wear some official dress. The town itself is 
very much like other German towns. Its cathedral is a ponderous- 
looking structure, and very ancient. The Church of St. Stephen, 
also very old, but much smaller, is nevertheless a much more 
attractive building, and occupies a very fine position. Some of the 
streets are so narrow that you might get from the upper windows 
of one house to those of the one facing it by means of a plank. 

From Kastel it is only a short and easy ride by rail to the 
Cheltenham of this part of Germany — the lovely Wiesbaden. 
This is the resort of thousands of visitors in search of health or 
pleasure. In addition to its hot springs and baths, it has its parks . 
and promenades, its ornamented and handsome streets, its squares 
with bright fountains, and its grand hotels. The great centre of 
attraction and of the fashionable life of this most fashionable of 
German resorts is the Kursaal. This magnificent pile has its great 
banquet hall ; its ball-rooms, reading-rooms, gambling-rooms ; its 
colonnade of shops and cafes ; its beautifully ornamented gardens 
and fountains ; and near it the Kurgarten, where, in front of its 
miniature lake, you may stroll or recline under shady trees while 
listening to the strains of a fine band, which plays every afternoon 
beneath a beautiful kiosk. 

The most conspicuous building from the outside of the town is the 
Protestant Church, a modern Gothic building of red brick, with 
five high spires. Its interior is chaste, and it has one very 
beautiful window. Its chief peculiarity is that, instead of an altar, 



42 

and crosses, and candles, and paintings, as in the Catholic churches^ 
it has a plain communion-table, at the back of which stands a 
stone figure of the Saviour with outstretched arms, as He may be 
supposed to have stood in the temple when He cried, " Come unto 
Me;" while on each side are statues of two of the evangelists, each 
of the four by some appropriate gestures directing the attention 
of the people to the central figure. They are all of heroic size. 
Above the town is the hill of the Neroberg, rising some 800 
feet, on which is a caje and other places of resott, and from 
which grand views are obtained of the town below and the Rhine 
valley stretching away in the distance. 

Returning down the Rhine, after having travelled for a portion 
of the distance upwards along its shores, was quite a new sensa- 
tion, and the weather was perfection. From Mayence the Rhine 
takes a westerly course to its next great bend at Bingen, and for 
the whole distance spreads out into lakelike expanses, with 
numerous islands, mostly narrow and elongated, stretching along 
its course. On its banks are several small towns, some of them 
very interesting. There is EltvilJe, once the capital of the Rheingau,. 
with its old Castle, Erbach, with the chateau of Reinhartshausen ; 
Schierstein, with Frauenstein Castle in its vicinity ; the Hill of 
Strahlenberg, with its vine-clad slopes, from which the famed Mar- 
cobrunna wine is produced ; Winkel and Mittelheim, which 
adjoin each other, and stretch along the river bank. Then we had 
a good view of the Castle of Johannisberg, which I had visited on 
my way up, and the quaint little town of Geisenheim. Between 
RUdesheim and Bingen the river narrows, and you look up to the 
great monument on the Niederwald, which had been visible for 
several miles. Near here is the Mouse Tower, or Custom House 
Tower, on a rocky island, and the ruined Tower of Ehrenfels on 
the mainland nearly opposite. Further on is the town of Assmans- 
hausen, famous for its red wine, and the Rossel Tower on the 
heights above. On the opposite hill is the picturesque Castle 
of Rheinstein, set off by a well -wooded background, and a little 
further the ruins of the Reichenstein. Before losing sight of this 
we get a good view of the restored and beautiful Castle of Sooneck 
(or Sonneck), and the ruin of Heimburg. The ancient town of 
Lorch is at the mouth of the Wisoer, which here flows into the 
Rhine, and near it is the ruined Castle of MoUingen, with the fine 
ruin of Fiirstenberg on the opposite side. A curious looking, 
weird place is the Pfalz — a sort of miniature Chillon, on a rocky 
island in midstream ; and further down we get sight of the Castle 
of Gutenfels, looking down upon the town of Caub; while on the 
opposite side, and at no great distance, is to be seen the ruins of 
Schonburg Castle, on the heights near Oberwesel, one of the pret- 
tiest towns to be seen on the banks of the Rhine. A bend in the 
river at this point brings us to the celebrated rocks of Lorelei (or 



Lurlei), rising grandly for 450 feet. At the foot of this bold 
eminence is the whirlpool which is the foundation for the well- 
known legend of the syren who bewitched the boatmen to her 
rocky cells and grots below, expressed in Mendelssohn's '' Loreley" 
and the English " Lurline." A little way inland is the interesting 
ruin of E-eichenberg. Then we come to the town of St. Goar on one 
side, and that of St. Goarshausen on the opposite side. Near St. 
Goar is the most extensive and interesting of the ruined castles of 
the Rhine — that of the Castle of Rheinfels. Some distance further 
we approach Bornhofen, on either side of which is a ruined castle — 
the one is Sterrenberg, the other Liebenstein, and they are known 
as "The Brothers." Boppard is a considerable town on the west 
bank, and then comes a tortuous bend in the river, and villages, 
castles, and towers are visible at every turn. The principal of 
these castles are those of Lahneck, above Oberlahnstein, on the 
one side, and the Castle of Stolzenfels on the other. Both have 
been restored, and our Queen was entertained at the last-named by 
the then King of Prussia about forty years ago. Shortly after 
this we arrive at Coblentz. From thence to Cologne we enjoyed 
under a bright sky and warm sun the second view of the 
Drachenfels and others of the Bhine's beauties, which we had 
seen from a different outlook on our way up stream. Of course 
it was impossible to pass through such enchanted ground 
as this without carrying the imagination back to the remote 
times when mailed warriors held the numerous castles and 
towers, of which the ruins are visible to-day. The weird 
legends connected with them, and the tales of chieftans, monks, 
and dragons, hapless maidens and gallant heroes, do not 
satisfactorily reveal the manner of life of those days among these 
Bhine hills and the adjacent valleys, with their towns and villages,, 
nor is there time or space in such a sketch as this for going into 
the question ; but no intelligent excursionist, after looking upon 
them, can fail to desire a better acquaintance with their history. 
I must not leave the Bhine without another word or two about its 
vine-clad slopes and terraces. In some of these the soil is excel- 
lent and of a great depth ; but what strikes the traveller most is not 
so much the extensive vineyards^ covering hundreds of acres, but 
the poor man's patches. On the rocky hillsides, wherever a ledge 
or level piece occurs with a sunny aspect, they have been covered 
with mould carried up from below, and in many cases the earth is 
protected by stone walls, so that each little patch of a perch or 
two is a miniature vineyard j and the puzzling question is how 
many of them are reached or the grapes brought down after they 
are gathered. The vintages on the Bhine are very late. There ia 
one early gathering in September of a special grape used for 
blending purposes only, but the general ingathering does not take 
place until November. When I was through the vineyards in 



44 

September the grapes were green and mostly hard ; but they 
usually reckon upon about a fortnight of warm, sunny weather in 
that month, which expands the berry and the saccharine; then it 
goes on ripening until the cold, wintry weather compels the 
vigneron to get in his harvest in November. Those sunny days 
had commenced before I left the district, and my vine-growing 
friends were in cheerful spirits. 

Mtjlheim — On my second visit to Cologne I saw somewhat 
more of the city and its surroundings, and paid a special visit 
to Miilheim. Having an introduction to the head of the great 
firm of Felton and Guilleaume, the manufacturers of wires of 
every description, from submarine cables to the delicate wire 
strings of musical instruments, and even finer than these, I was 
received most courteously by that gentleman, as well as the 
managers of the works, and spent a great part of a day in examin- 
ing the various processes and obtaining information as to the German 
system of telegraph and telephone wires and the underground 
telegraph cables, which now connect all parts of the empire instead 
of the aerial wires, which are a disfigurement and a source of 
danger in English and Australian towns. 

On returning to Cologne I found at my hotel a party of friends 
from Melbourne. On the following morning they started up the 
Rhine, while I took train for Belgium. On this, as on other 
occasions, I was grieved and mortified at being compelled to 
content myself with a mere glance at such towns as Aix-la- 
Chapelle and Liege, which I took on my way to Brussels. The 
former was the birthplace of Charlemagne, and there he died, after 
becoming the master of Europe. There, too, some of the principal 
diets, councils, and congresses of European Powers have been held. 
It has some interesting manufactories ; but, like all great centres in 
Europe, it is famous for its churches and relics. The great silver 
shrine at the cathedral contains — or rather is said to contain — the 
cotton robe of Mary worn at the nativity, the swaddling clothes of 
the Divine Infant, the scarf worn by our Lord at the crucifixion, 
&c. There are also (almost as a matter of course in so important 
a cathedral) portions of the true cross, as well as rarer objects, 
such as a piece of Aaron's rod that budded, a lock of the Virgin's 
hair, and the sponge that was filled with vinegar at the crucifixion ! 
Li6ge is a very large town, and may be correctly styled the Bir- 
mingham of Belgium. The forests of chimneys that rise from its 
numerous ironworks remind one very much of a part of Birming- 
ham. Several streams converge at Liege, and the scenery in some 
of the adjacent valleys is extremely picturesque and beautiful. 
My first visit to Brussels was limited to one day, and then I went 
on to 

Antwerp. — From the Hotel de I'Europe, in one of the principal 
squares (where I had taken up my quarters), to the great Cathedral 



45 

•was a walk of three or four minutes only, so my first attentions 
after breakfast the next morning were devoted to that very 
interesting pile. The music of its sixty bells I had become 
familiar with from the first hour of my arrival, for they ring out 
their beautiful carillon at very short intervals. The spire is one 
of the finest in Europe, and one of the loftiest anywhere, being 
over 400 feet high. The exquisite tracery of its external sculp- 
tures is such that it has been compared to Mechlin lace. The 
interior is full of objects of surpassing interest in painting, sculp- 
ture, and stained glass. Among the first of these objects are the 
two masterpieces of Rubens, " The Elevation of the Gross''' and 
*' The Descent from the Cross.^' Among the carvings and sculp- 
tures may be mentioned a very curious wooden pulpit, carved by 
Verbruggen, with symbolical life-sized figures representing the four 
quarters of the globe, and strange specimens of the feathered 
tribes. Some confessionals, carved by the same artist, are also 
wonderful for beauty of detail. The high altar is one of the most 
gorgeous in Europe. The ascent of the tower is fatiguing, but is 
weil repaid by the delightful views that burst upon you from the 
upper gallery, commanding, as it does, on one hand the Kiver 
Scheldt with its forest of masts and funnels, and all around the 
quaint, tall gables of the houses and public buildings, the numerous 
spires and pinnacles, and the far-stretching plains of Belgium and 
Holland beyond. In my descent I found the belfry open and the 
ringers preparing to ring out a dirge for a great man who had just 
departed this life. I accepted an offer to inspect the bells, for I 
had a strong desire to see that famous piece of mechanism, the 
keyboard and connecting wires by which tunes can be played upon 
these cathedral bells as upon an organ. The ringers, however, 
played a practical joke upon me, which I shall not soon forget. 
They began by ringing one of the smaller bells, the sound of 
which was musical without being overpowering, and I watched it 
with pleasure. While doing so one of the big monsters burst 
forth into a terrific WONG, and then a second followed. My 
conductor snatched my hat and umbrella, so as to relieve both 
hands for stopping my ears, while I gladly scrambled through 
beams and timbers to get to the turret steps. On reaching the 
belfry again I found that those two bells took each four men to 
ring them, while '- Old Carolus,'' the largest of all, requires six 
men to ring it. It weighs 16,000 lbs. 

Antwerp abounds in Catholic churches. One of the most 
curious is that of St. Paul. You approach it through a yard and 
cloisters, with statues all around it, and a most grotesque piece of 
rockwork, intended to represent Calvary. It is surmounted by an 
image of the Saviour on the cross, while figures of the Virgin and 
apostles are placed on the descending ledges or terraces. At the 
foot is a rude representation of the sepulchre, with our Lord inside; 



46 

and at the back and sides of this cave are representations of purga- 
tory, with life-size figures of unhappy people encaged behind iron 
bars, and in the midst of torturing flames. Painters were at work 
at the time of my visit adding (with their brushes) new fuel to the 
fires by horrid dashes of red and yellow. 

Although Antwerp is now so thoroughly Catholic, we must not 
forget that Protestantism owes much to the reformers of that city 
for the early translations of the New Testament, and their print- 
ing by Raimond, Tyndale, and Fryth. The city is rich in W{jrk3 
of art. Rubens is its chief presiding deity. You meet him every- 
where. The band played at the foot of his statue in front of my 
hotel each evening. In the museum you see his arm-chair in a 
glass case ! It has also given birth to some others of the great 
painters whose works are the glory of European galleries. The 
Spaniards once held Antwerp, and hence you find a Spanish air 
among the females, whose rich mantillas are more like those of the 
Peninsula than of Belgium. 

Brussels. — Returning to "the lesser Paris," I took up my 
quarters at the Hotel Belle- Yue in the Place Roy ale, and adjoin- 
ing the King's Palace. From this centre the greater and lesser 
boulevards were easy of access ; the grand pare was close at hand, 
and all the great institutions of the city could be reached by tram- 
car, cab, or on foot. 

The old town, like other continental cities, has its narrow, 
crowded thoroughfares ; while the more modern and fashionable 
portions of the city contain spacious streets, magnificent walks and 
buildings, and all the luxuries and conveniences of Paris and 
London. Its cathedral is much inferior to that of Antwerp, but 
I witnessed some very imposing ceremonies in it. Its museums 
are full of instructive objects, and many of its public buildings are 
remarkable for their beauty. One of the most massive and im- 
-posing buildings in Europe is the new Palace of Justice, which was 
not quite completed at the time of my visit. It is said to have cost 
sixty millions of francs. I have not space to refer to the numerous 
other attractions of this one of the most attractive of European 
cities. 

Waterloo. — Onecknnot speak of Brussels without remember- 
ing the events of which it was the scene on that memorable eve^ 
when — 

There was a sound of revelry by night, 

And Belgium's capital had gather'd then 
Her beauty and her chivalry, and bright 

The lamps shone o'er fair women and brave men ; 
A thousand hearts beat happily ; and when 

Music arose, with its voluptuous swell, 
Soft eyes look'd love to eyes that spake again, 

And all went merry as a marriage bell ; 
But hush ! hark ! a deep sound strikes like a rising knell 



47 

Ah ! then and there was hurrying to and fro, 

And gathering tears and tremblings of distress, 
And cheeks all pale which but an hour ago 

Blush'd at the praise of their own loveliness ; 
And there were sudden partings, such as press 

The life from out young hearts, and choking sighs 
Which ne'er might be repeated ; who would guess 

If ever more should meet those mutual eyes, 
Since upon night so sweet such awful morn could rise ? 

And there was mounting in hot haste : the steed. 

The mustering squadron, and the clattering car. 
Went pouring forward with impetuous speed. 

And swiftly forming in the ranks of war ; 
And the deep thunder, peal on peal, afar ; 

And near, the beat of the alarming drum 
Roused up the soldier ere the morning star : 

While throng'd the citizens with terror dumb, 
Or whispering with white lips, *' The foe ! They come ! They come 1'* 

At an early hour I sallied forth over the same route as that 
taken by the mustering battalions on that eventful morning, and 
arrived at the village of Waterloo, thence pressing onward to the 
actual battle-ground. Joining (in imagination) Napoleon and his 
<;olumns at Quatre-bras, and following the Emperor to the farm- 
house known as La Belle Alliance, I crossed to the Chateau d'Hou- 
gomont, where the fighting commenced, and around which it raged 
until three thousand dead encumbered its courts and grounds ; then 
stood by our own Wellington, and watched the varying complexion 
of the field ; saw with my mind's eye the opportune arrival of 
Blucher with his Prussians ; realised the great mistake of Napo- 
leon in supposing that these were his own reserves ; watched th6 
effect of his after-discovery of the real truth ; then went through 
all the thrilling excitement of the last desperate dash of the French 
at our centre ; saw the heaps of slain covering the field till not a 
clod was visible (thousands of gory corpses, with arms and accoutre- 
ments, covered the few acres whereon that desperate encounter 
took place); then I saw the guards rise up from their ambush, and 
rush in to decide the mortal fray ; and then the final defeat of the 
French troops, and the last decisive blow struck which terminated 
the great European war and the career of France's imperial com- 
mander. All this exercise of the imagination was greatly aided 
by the marvellous descriptive powers of our guide, whose dramatic 
action and passionate enthusiasm held us spellbound while he 
described each successive event, pointing our attention to the 
various spots whereon each occurred. From the summit of the 
Montague du Lion — a pyramidal mound of earth 200 feet high, 
surmounted by a colossal bronze lion, and beneath which li(3 the 
bones of thousands of the slain, conquerors and conquered, 
mingling in one common grave — the whole field can be taken in 
with the assistance of a field-glass. Descending from this mount 
to an hotel near its basei, we are enabled to examine a large col- 



48 

lection of arms and mementoes of the great battle, and to obtain 
photographic and other illustrations of the scenes. Two of the 
finest monuments erected on the battle-field are those of General 
Gordon and of the Hanoverians. The Prussians have also a 
beautiful Gothic monument; and if you will take the trouble to go 
to the spot, near at hand, you may see the grave of the Marquis 
of Anglesea's leg — a burlesque termination, it must be admitted, 
to so tragic a story. 

From Brussels to Paris the journey is interesting chiefly on 
account of the opportunity afforded to notice the habits and mode of 
culture adopted by the French farmers in the northern provinces. 

Paris. — During a four days' sojourn in the gayest and grandest 
of European cities an industrious sightseer may accomplish much. 
I had the advantage of an excellent cicerone, in the person of a 
relative who has been resident in Paris for many years, and whose 
place of business is close to the Place de la Concorde. He drove 
^me through the Bois de Bologne at the fashionable hour, pointing^ 
out all the celebrities, also to the Trocadero and several outside 
places, as well as others within the city. Paris, in its great 
central Boulevards, was to me a new city, as I had not seen it since 
the great changes effected under the regime of Napoleon III. The 
new Opera House and other buildings visible hereabouts are very 
handsome. Of course, there was a pleasure in revisiting such 
places as the old Boulevards, the Champs Elysees (they are pro- 
posing to spoil the beautiful Arc de Triomphe by placing an 
equestrian group upon the top of it, robbing it of its majestic 
simplicity), the Pantheon, the Luxembourg, Notre Dame, the 
Palais Royale, the Louvre, the Bourse, the numerous monuments, 
the Invalides (which now contains the bones of Napoleon L in a 
grand sarcophagus), and inspecting such buildings as the new 
Hotel de Yille, the Sevres porcelain works, &c., &c. One of the 
most attractive of the modern sights of Paris is the panorama of 
the siege of Paris and its defence against the attacks of the 
German armies during the 132 days. The central point of this 
grand panorama is the Fort of Issy, upon which the German 
batteries rained their projectiles during the latter part of the 
siege. The fort itself, with all its details of fortifications and 
armaments, is beneath the spectator's feet, and around and on all 
sides are very vivid representations of the German positions and 
the operations of the siege, made up of numberless details. There 
is also a diorama showing what was passing in the streets — the 
effects of the shells falling in the bombarded quarter, the terror 
and flight of the families, ambulances, and all the incidents of that 
tragic situation. As I was in Paris on a Sunday I had another 
opportunity of attending one of the great services at the Madeleine, 
visiting rather hurriedly several other churches, and attending, 
also, a service at the English Episcopal Church. 



49 

Homeward Bound. — From Paris I went by rail to Dieppe and 
steamer to New haven, thence to Lewes and Brighton, and after a 
brief stay at the latter place to note the many changes since my 
former visits — its extended sea beach and esplanade, its aquarium, 
and other attractions — I took train to London, and was gladly 
received once more into the bosom of my family, who were then 
located for the time at Hampstead Heath. 

[My English experiences would fill a volume. I therefore omit 
any attempt to give particulars of them, except what may be 
obtained from my address to the Melbourne Chamber of Com- 
merce, which is printed herewith as an appendix.]- 



50 



LONDON TO AUSTRALIA, VIA FRANCE, SWITZERLAND, 
IT/LY, EGYPT, AND CEYLON. 



The mail route from London to Australia, as everybody knows, 
is by way of the Suez Canal and the Ked Sea. The steamers sail 
from the Thames, and passengers can either go from thence or can 
start from Venice or Brindisi by a steamer which goes direct to 
Alexandria, from whence a special train proceeds through Egypt 
overland to Suez, there overtaking the steamer which had sailed 
from the Thames. This latter route is the one chosen by passen- 
gers desirous of seeing something of Europe on the way, and the 
following are notes of a journey by a party of four (two ladies and 
two gentlemen), who took in their way Paris, Basle, Lucerne, the 
Alps by the St. Gothard Tunnel, Como, Milan, Venice, Florence, 
Kome, and Naples. 

The start was made from London at ten o'clock on a mild 
morning in February. Dover was reached without incident, and 
the Channel was crossed in moderate but damp weather, so that 
our last, long, lingering look at the white cliffs of Britain was 
neither sunny nor sentimental. Whatever of emotion accompanied 
it was kept all to ourselves, especially as unpleasant qualms were 
interfering with the personal comfort of more than one of the 
party. Paris was reached in the evening. Of Paris it is needless 
to say much. All the world knows more or less of this brightest 
and gayest of cities. To two of our party it was comparatively 
new. The writer, however, had but recentl}'' explored its ways, 
seen some, at least, of its sights, and enjoyed some of its society. 
The other three did much of Paris by themselves, while the writer 
paid a visit to friends at Epernay, the great centre of the cham- 
pagne district, only a few hours' journey by rail. Having not 
long since been over the principal vineyards and some of the 
largest cellars in the district of the Ehine and Moselle, it was 
pleasant to be able to compare them with these celebrated vine- 
yards, which supply the grapes for the Meet and Chandon, the 
Wachter, and the Cliqnot champagnes, and to see some of these 
large establishments, and inspect the various processes and ^^tages 
in the maturing of their far-famed productions. An opportunity 
was also afforded of enjoying for a brief space the hospitality and 
society of an old and valued friend. After rejoining the rest of 
the party, and making the most of such time as remained for 



51 

Parisian sight-seeing, a start was made by an early morning train 
for Lucerne, by way of Basle, at which last-named town 
we stopped one night. It was a pleasure to look out once 
more from one's bedroom window in the Hotel " Trois E,ois" on 
to the flowing Rhine. There, is nothing of especial interest about 
old Basle, so after a drive around its quaint thoroughfares, 
and a hurried inspection of some of its churches and public build- 
ings, we were on our way to the more attractive Lucerne. The 
interest of this journey rapidly increases. The railway ascends 
through a romantic valley bordered by lofty hills, with enchanting 
glimpses between. The hillsides are dotted with pretty chalets 
and churches, and the character of the country is becoming pal- 
pably Swiss. At Olten, about midway between Basle and Lucerne, 
we change trains. For some distance we are on a plateau of 
verdant oountry, which would be quite English but for the chalets 
and groups of Swiss-like houses here and there. The snow peaks 
of the Alpine mountains also come more and more into view until 
we get very near the snow — in fact it begins to lie about us, and 
in the hollows around, while peak after peak comes looming up 
like " Pelion on Ossa piled." In the open patches of country we 
pass, the numerous cattle-sheds tell of the difficulties of the moun- 
taineer when the land is all under snow, and his poor beasts have 
to be penned in under cover and fed. The snow-covered ground 
becomes more and more glaring under a brilliant sun, but in the 
outlook the fierceness of this white light is mitigated by the dark 
shadows of mountain peaks and the dark foliage of occasional 
pine forests. As we glided down to Lucerne we were enchanted 
with the first sight of its suburbs and outskirts. Beautiful villas 
on the hill sides, the spires of the cathedral, the battlemented town 
wall and towers, all came rapidly into view, and then a glimpse 
of the glorious lake ; and, lo ! we were at the station. I ought 
not to omit mention of the lovely lake of Sempach, which we pass 
before reaching Lucerne. The little town of the same name is on 
the opposite shore of the lake, and the perfect reflection of the 
town, its spires and roofs and trees, on its mirror-like surface, 
charmed us exceedingly. At Lucerne station we expected to en- 
counter the Custom-house officers, for although we had been led to 
expect rather more than the average trouble with these gentry, our 
baggage had been registered, and sent through from Paris with- 
out examination. As an official was particularly anxious to possess 
himself of my portmanteau, I was equally importunate in my 
endeavours to persuade him to inspect the contents there and 
then, and, keys in hand, was carrying on a controversy (in bad 
French) with my tormentor, until, amid the laughter of my fellow- 
travellers, I was told that the official was our hotel porter, 
who merely wished to relieve me of further trouble with my 
belongings. 

E 



52 

Surely Lucerne was never seen to greater advantage than on the 
day of our arrival. What a coup d'ceil ! The amphitheatre of 
mountains, all covered with recent snows, encloses the town and 
lake on three sides. From our hotel we had the lofty Rigi in 
front, Mount Pilatus on one side, and the interval and back- 
ground filled up with peak upon peak in long-stretching variety of 
form, but all glistening in spotless white. Contrasted with all this 
was the placid bosom of the blue lake at our feet, reflecting (but 
in a deeper, richer tone) the clear blue sky above. Lucerne has a 
fine esplanade, and some charming resorts. The chief among the 
local objects of interest is '' the lion of Lucerne," cut in the solid 
rock by Ahorn, under the direction of Thorwalsden, in honour of 
the Swiss soldiers who fell in Paris in 1792. Two covered wooden 
bridges with antique paintings are also well worth a thorough in- 
spection. Three out of our four were Australians, and as the 
English winter had been to us something of a fraud — no colder in 
fact than we could have shown English visitors in elevated posi- 
tions such as Ballarat — the tempation was very great to handle the 
snow as it lay two or three inches deep along our paths. Of course it 
needed but little provocation to proceed to snowballing on a mild 
scale. Many years had elapsed since one at least of the party had 
indulged in such a sport. One of the sensational incidents of a 
visit to Lucerne is the ascent of the Higi, 5400 feet high, by its 
marvellous railway, worked up and down the precipitous incline by 
an engine with powerful cogs. This surprising piece of engineer- 
ing, however, has not jpatrons enough to employ it in the winter, 
so we could not go through the sensation. We could only look at 
the railway at its base at Yitznau, and imagine the rest with the 
further aid of photographs. We determined on leaving Lucerne 
to take the lake steamer instead of the railway (which everybody 
should do). The trip down to the other end of the lake at Fluelen 
is one of the most charming lake trips in the world. Several small 
towns are passed on the way, and chalets and Swiss-like 
buildings dot the hill sides in such marvellous ways that one 
wonders how the occupiers can reach them. Among 
the objects of interest seen on the banks of the lake is 
William Toll's chapel. Tradition says that when the Austrian 
tyrant, Gesler, sailed up this lake he took Tell with him, com- 
pelling him to pilot the boat. A storm having lashed up the lake 
into fury the governor wished to land, and Tell, having run the 
boat to shore, leaped on land, and with a powerful push of his foot 
sent the boat back into the angry waves, and made his escape. 
This chapel commemorates the event. On the other side of the 
lake is the Mythenstein, a rock rising perpendicularly from the 
water, on which in letters of gold the cantons have had engraved 
an inscription to Schiller, the poet of Tell. Near to the mythic 
stone is the meadow or paddock in which the three Swiss heroes, 



53 

Walter Fiirst, Werner Stauffacher, and Arnold Melchthall, met at 
night, and took the mutual oath to deliver their country, or die ; 
and at the little town of Brunnen opposite is still shown an old 
house in which these patriots held, a year later, the first con- 
vention which laid the foundation of Helvetic liberty. Along the 
shore of the lake is the famous Axenstrasse, a capital road cut for 
the most part out of the solid mountain side. The lake terminates 
at Fluelen, a curious little place of about a thousand inhabitants, 
with a quaint hotel, from which we looked out upon the principal 
thoroughfare and the church. From this place we paid a visit to 
Altorf, the little capital of the canton, a very quiet little town, 
full of romantic interest as the scene of the early struggle for 
liberty and of the heroic deeds of William Tell. Here is a colossal 
statue of Tell, erected by his countrymen— a tower and chapel and 
a fountain on the spot where it is said the lime tree grew against 
which Tell's son leaned when his father shot the apple from his 
head. Tell's birthplace, the spot on which Gesler was shot by 
Tell's arrow, and other memorials of the time, are shown in the 
neighbourhood. From Fluelen we started by an early train on 
our ascent of the Alps by way of the St. Gothard tunnel. 

It rained when we commenced our journey, but the rain soon 
became snow ; and as we rose rapidly amongst precipitous hills 
and deep gorges the heavy flakes were covering the ground, and 
bending with their weight the horizontal branches of the mountain 
pines. Grand views opened up as we proceeded ; sometimes along 
mere ledges of the mountain side, with deep dangerous ravines 
below us ; sometimes crossing tall viaducts or winding round the 
sides of hills, passing dark tunnels and emerging to look down 
upon a railway beneath us, over which we had passed a quarter of 
an hour before. At other times the mountain torrent was rushing 
its headlong course along by our side, while at intervals the 
graceful silvery cascades of 50 or 100 feet fell in one white line 
from over a- mountain ledge, or a miniature torrent tumbled and 
leaped from shelf to shelf of a rocky gorge. It was indeed 

A land of streams ; some like a downward smoke, 
Slow dropping veils of thinnest lawn, did go ; 

And some through wavering Hghts and shadows broke, 
Eolling a slumbrous sheet of foam below. 

As we approached the St. Gothard tunnel the road became quite 
romantic in its windings, describing in its course a squab-shaped 
letter S. The last station in Switzerland isGoschenen, soon after 
leaving which we entered the tunnel, said to be the longest in 
Europe — being 9J "miles. It is also a very remarkable one, as 
dividing Southern Europe from northern, and Switzerland from 
Italy. Emerging on the Italian side, the train soon brings us to 
Airolo, a township of considerable size. We are struck with the 
large dimensions of the houses ; but they are all of a different cha- 

E 2 



54 

racter to those we had left on the other side of the tunnel — -either in 
villages or perched about in all sorts of inaccessible-looking places 
on the mountain sides. Here, too, the Swiss spires gave way to 
Italian campaniles. The names and signs, and the language, were 
all Italian. The town has a very new look, it having been 
mostly rebuilt after a great fire which destroyed 200 of its houses 
a few years ago. The change even extended to the weather, which 
was the reverse of that in Switzerland. Instead of falling snow we 
had an almost clear sky. The mountains were less white. On 
one side would be a hill still snow-clad, but on the opposite side of 
the valley where the sun had reached, the hillside would be green 
or brown. The mountains, too, were more rounded in form, 
although snowy peaks were visible above and beyond these. We 
also notice that the river (the Tessin), which occasionally ran 
beside us, or passed under bridges beneath us, ran in the opposite 
direction to those on the other side. On this side, however, as on 
the Swiss side, we came upon beautiful cascades, as well as 
evidences of the effects of glaciers and avalanches. In one place 
the rocks brought down from above had crushed several houses, 
and these messengers of destruction were still lying upon the ruins. 
Descending through tunnels and romantic defiles, and skirting 
some fertile-looking valleys, we came upon the first signs of the 
vine culture, and the patches of valley and terraced hillsides under 
vines and fruit trees rapidly increased, until whole valleys appeared 
to be dependent upon them. The descent on this side, like the 
ascent on the other, is frequently by serpentine courses, in which 
we compass the distance in a direct line only by " doubling" and 
redoubling. Looking down upon a line of rails immediately 
below us, and proceeding in the same direction, we enter a tunnel 
or a defile, and presently look up to see over our heads the line 
we had just traversed. The vineyards hereabouts had a very 
peculiar appearance. The vines were all trained up supports five 
or six feet high, in squares, and trellised over the top. The sup- 
ports were in some cases timber, but in many others granite or a 
hard sandstone (with both of which the hills abound). One of 
the largest towns on the route is Bellinzona, a picturesque place, 
with castellated and embattled forts on the heights above it. 
Passing from the town the hillsides, where the aspect is favour- 
able, are covered with vines, every available patch being cultivatecl, 
as on the banks of the Khine. They are also staked here in the 
ordinary way. 

From points near here some fine views are obtained of the 
receding Alpine peaks on the one hand, and the fertile plains of 
Lombardy on the other. A branch line leads off through the 
valley of the Tessin to Locarno and Lago Maggiore. Our time 
did not admit of this diversion, and we proceeded along the main 
line to Lugano and Como. After re-ascending about a hundred 



55 

metres along the mountain side, we emerge at an elevation which 
reveals to us the outskirts of Lugano. We have not time to give 
expression to our admiration of the picturesque villas and hand- 
some buildings scattered about the slopes of a most enchanting 
valley before we discover that the buildings increase in number and 
magnitude, with spires and campaniles, until the town of Lugano 
lies immediately below us. A little interruption to this charming 
view, and lo ! the Lake of Lugano bursts upon us in its quiet 
but enchanting loveliness. What a delicious sight ! The train 
stops long enough to enable us to gratify our ravished vision for 
some minutes, and then the line gradually descends to the lake-side, 
along which it winds, enabling us at every turn round the project- 
ing hillsides to see it in some new aspect, the hills rising abruptly 
on every side, and the town with its white buildings, its foliage, 
and its towers, stretching away up one of the sweetest valleys in 
Italy. Here is a realisation of Claude Melnotte's poetic picture 
and worthy site of such a palace as that with which the gardener's 
son filled the imagination of his inamorata — " A. deep vale, shut 
out by Alpine hills from the rude world, near a clear lake mar- 
gined by fruits of gold, glassing soft skies, cloudless, save by rare 
and roseate shadows." Midway down the lake a grand viaduct 
crosses it, by which the train passes to the opposite side. The 
lower end of the lake is less beautiful than the upper, but the 
scenery around is still very fine as far as Capolago. Thence to 
Como the journey presents nothing very striking. Our first view 
of Como was obtained under less favourable circumstances than 
that of Lugano. It was after sunset, and the view from the rail- 
way is not nearly so good as from other points. We therefore 
made for our hotel in the Grand Square, and reserved our inspec- 
tion of the lake scenery for the morning. Even then our impres- 
sions were much less exciting than those occasioned by the sight of 
Lugano, although if Como had been seen first, and for the first 
time from some point of vantage under a bright sky, the ecstacy 
would have been as great as that we experienced when Lugano 
burst npon our view and imprinted itself indelibly upon our 
memories. The Lake of Como, however, is not to be seen by a 
visit to the town of Como only. It has an extent of some thirty 
miles in a north-easterly direction, and then there is a south- 
easterly branch turning off midway to Lecco, so that it has some- 
thing of the shape of a " wishing-bone" with an exaggerated 
shank. Excursions may be made over it by steamer, but our time 
was limited, and, moreover, we had been feasting on lake scenery 
for four consecutive days, and could be content with the beauties 
of Como's south-western wing. 

Milan. — Arriving at the famous city of Milan at mid-day, we 
were driven to our quarters at the Hotel de I'Europe, in the Corso 
Yittorio Emanuele, near the cathedral. The length of our drive 
to this, the very heart of the city, gave us an idea of its magnitude. 



56 

It is said to contain 220,000 inhabitants, including the military. 
It was the capital of the Cisalpine Republic, and under Napoleon 
I. was the capital of the kingdom. It was afterwards ceded to 
Austria, but since the battle of Solferino it has been part of the 
united kingdom of Italy. Immediately after lunch, we sallied 
forth to see what we could of famous Milan. As we were near 
the cathedra], of course we made direct for the grand Piazza, and 
surveyed from various points that wondrous pile — 

Tis only in the land of fairy dreams 

Such marble temples rise ; 

How bright ! how beautiful ! the turrets peep 

In snowy clouds, while statues crown their heights. 

It is a marvellous structure : the largest Gothic church in the 
world, covering about double the space occupied by Canterbury 
Cathedral. In richness of detail, too, it has no rival. Statues 
and bas-reliefs occupy apparently every niche and space, but 
although they number some 3000 it is said there is still room for 
many hundreds more. Facing one side of the cathedral is tlie 
Royal Palace. In an opposite direction is the grand front of the 
G-alleria Yittorio Emanuele. It is the handsomest building of its 
kind in Europe. The front to the Piazza del Duomo consists of a 
fine colonnade, beneath which are some of the most fashionable 
shops ; thence a magnificent arched arcade extends from this piazza 
to the other piazza of the Scala, and it is in the form of a cross 
with an octagon in the centre, adorned with frescoes. A splendid 
glazed cupola covers this centre, and rises to a height of 180 feet. 
It forms a delightful promenade, especially when illuminated in the 
evening with its numberless jets of gas. The best shops and cafes 
in Milan are here. Facing the principal front of the cathedral, 
but towards the other side of the piazza, was a grand kiosk or 
pavilion, the sides and covering of canvas, but adorned with flags 
and ornaments of the gayest colours. Its floor was at a consider- 
able elevation, and approached by grand flights of steps. This 
was intended to play an important part in the demonstrations of 
the carnival (which was to commence next day), and its pastimes 
were already being anticipated by an alfresco ball, the admission 
to the floor being under the direction of richly-clad flunkies, with 
silver-headed staff's. Engaging a vetturino, with a smattering of 
English and a trifle more French, we drove to the principal sights 
of the city, taking a hasty view of its principal palaces, piazzas, 
and portas (of which latter there are eleven), and a drive along 
the great Corso, planted on each side, and forming the Hyde Park 
of Milan. Amongst other objects visited were the castle (only a 
huge barrack) ; the Piazza d'Armi, an immense open square, like the 
Champ de Mars in Paris ; a very fine triumphal arch, called now 
the Arco Delia Pace, which forms in fact the Porta del Semplone, 



57 

as the Simplon-road passes under it. It is surmounted by a bronze 
figure of Peace, in a car drawn by six horses, and is covered with 
historical bas-reliefs and inscriptions. In the same neighbourhood 
is the arena, an oval amphitheatre, built like many other Italian 
amphitheatres, something upon the plan of the great Colosseum. 
It is said to accommodate thirty thousand people. It is used for 
races, fireworks, &c., and can be fl.ooded for miniature regattas. 
One of the sights of Milan is its cemetery. The buildings con- 
nected with it are handsome, but the arrangement of the ground 
is too stiff and mechanical. We saw a great many funerals of 
children and young persons, from which the mourners were 
returning in a very light-hearted frame of mind. The processions ' 
were mostly composed of women and girls, the majority of whom 
wore white lace veils and mantillas stretching to their knees. The 
children were rather proud of them, and gambolled about, while 
the women indulged in gossip and chit-chat. We visited only a 
few of the churches. Of course the Duomo (as the cathedral is 
called) is by far the most magnificent. Tts forest of pillars, 
statues, stained windows, bronze pulpits, richly-carved stalls, &c., 
as well as the immense height of its vaulted aisles, is very impres- 
sive. Beneath the church is the shrine of San Carlo Borromeo, 
who was a great reformer of abuses when he was bishop, and 
was nearly assassinated for his pains, at the instance of the priests. 
His body — at least the poor shrivelled and decayed remains of it 
— are kept in a shrine of gold and silver, and arrayed in gorgeous 
robes. They are dimly seen by visitors who are willing to pay for 
the privilege through a glazed screen. One other church I must 
mention : it is that of Santa Maria Delia Grazie, though not for 
the sake of the church itself, but for the refectory near it, which 
contains one of the best known paintings in the world — namely, 
" The Last Supper," by Leonardo da Vinci. The figures are 
larger than life, and the painting covers a wall at one end of the 
refectory 28 feet long. It is incomprehensible how such a painting 
should have been so badly cared for in a country like Italy. The 
monks have actually been allowed to cut a doorway through the 
wall, which has destroyed the feet of the central figures. The wall 
itself is affected by damp, and the picture has been so touched up 
by different artists that it is probably very unlike its original self, 
though still beautiful and a very interesting study. 

The carnival is to be seen to the greatest advantage at Milan. 
At Venice the absence of horses and carriages necessitates the cele- 
bration being on foot, and chiefly in the Grand Piazza. There, 
too, as well as at Naples, Home, Florence, and other cities, the pro- 
ceedings terminate before the commencement cf Lent ; but how- 
ever sacred a duty the observance of that solemn season may be 
considered, the Pope does not hesitate to grant to the Milanese the 
special privilege of encroaching upon the great fast by five days of 



58 

rampant fun and folly. This enables the more enthusiastic of the 
mummers and mirth-seekers to come from other carnivals and 
swell the local ranks. On the evening of Ash Wednesday a great 
concourse of masqueraders arrived by special train from other 
cities, and a grand procession was formed by them and the Milanese, 
which paraded the chief thoroughfares to the Cathedral-square. 
Some were on foot, others on horseback, in carriages, cars, and in 
every variety of vehicle. The Corso Emanuele, in which our hotel 
was situated, was illuminated for the occasion, and innumerable 
lamps and torches were also borne along in the procession.' As we 
had a balcony placed at our disposal we saw it to great advantage. 
All these masquers attended the great ball which was afterwards 
held. The second day was a much more lively one than the first. 
The real fun in fact then commenced. Visitors poured in during 
the morning from all parts, and by two o'clock the principal 
thoroughfares were densely crowded. Most of the balconies along 
the Corso were decorated with flags or hangings. In some of 
them were people in carnival costumes, mostly white, set off with 
blue or red. Waggon loads of sacks of flour and lime were piled 
wherever there was a convenient recess, and many of the balconies 
were supplied with a good stock of it. As, however, the occupants 
of the great majority of the balconies were in ordinary dress, and 
mostly dark, they, as a rule, had little stores of bon bons, comfits, 
coloured paper balls, and bows, and such like innocent missiles — 
(for they were all collected for the pelting that was to follow). As 
men or women appeared among the crowd in fancy costume they 
got a shower from above. Indeed some of the thoroughgoing 
carnivalians began very early to pour out shovelsful of flour and 
lime upon the crowds below them. The procession, which started 
from the Cathedral-square up our Corso at about two o'clock, was 
made up of numberless vehicles of the ordinary kind, but filled 
with people more or less disguised, many of them in really pictur- 
esque dresses. At short intervals came bands of music, 
some on foot, but mostly in large cars elaborately built up aud 
decorated. A band of reed instruments, played by men in Pan- 
like costumes, were nearly at the head. They were 
followed by a band of gigantic lanterns, each lantern 
having a man inside it. Then a tasteful car full of men and 
women in elegant blue and white costumes, the women pelting the 
balconies with flowers and comfit balls. Shortly afterwards came a 
band in an enormous car, the players being in all sorts of bright 
colours, yellow predominating, and a colossal figure standing in 
the centre carrying bells, which jingled with the motion of the 
car. Next was a walking band of Tyrolese in green, and, a little 
afterwards, a band of grasshoppers. A gigantic car came soon 
afterwards, with men in cocked hats and particoloured dresses ; and 
from a great wooden trench surrounding the car they continually 



59 

shovelled out flour and lime upon the crowds below, making an 
occasional assault upon some of the lower balconies. Another 
small party of a canine character was headed by a leader with an 
enormous dog's head and a giant dog in a kennel, followed shortly 
afterwards by a procession of white dogs and a fancy car drawn 
by a donkey. Then came an immense car of Italian farmers and 
their wives — very pretty costumes. The hinder part of the car 
was thatched over as if it were part of a farm building, and around 
it were sheaves of corn, while on the floor in the centre they were 
continually threshing with their flails, and the pretty wives were 
busy with their shovels tossing out the corn (a very good imita- 
tion) as hard as they could throw it at the crowds. One of the 
most imposing affairs in this part of the procession was a colossal 
car representing an embattled house with band inside (all wind 
instruments), and the men outside working with might and main 
as they charged the balconies or the crowds from their large stores 
of flour. This was drawn by eight richly caparisoned horses with 
five outriders. Another car, drawn by horses in red with out- 
riders to match, contained a band dressed as Arabs and Italian 
fishermen. In the centre of the car was mounted a giant soldier 
coming out of a sentry-box, who by an ingenious contrivance was 
made to take two or three steps in advance, and as he immediately 
became the butt of numberless flour balls or comfits (we succeeded 
in hitting him on the nose) he then turned round, marched to the 
sentry-box as if entering, and then suddenly faced about again to 
go through the old performance. The next large car received, 
deservedly, a good deal of applause from its admirable get-up. The 
outriders, the men who rode the horses drawing the car, and the 
band of musicians in the car were all gigantic rats ; and, raised 
high in air above the centre, was a platform, on which was a 
colossal cat under a colossal rat-trap. Next was a band of frogs 
and toadstools, the horses being ridden by snails and caparisoned 
in sky-blue. Not many paces behind came a great organ. An 
artist with an immense shock of hair played on the keys in 
front, but the music was from a band concealed within. At 
the rear was a grotesque figure about twelve feet high, 
worked by a man inside, which danced and postured to the 
tunes, and received showers of missiles from all sides. After 
this followed a kind of tower, with a crowd of men in long 
conical black caps and mysterious instruments, with which 
they enacted something probably understood by the Milanese, 
but it was all dumb show to us. Then there was a sort of palace 
on wheels, with a beautiful three-cornered area of bright green in 
front. The retainers in their uniform were busy dusting the crowd 
or throwing flowers and comfits at the balconies. Next was a rail- 
way engine and carriages. After this followed an imitation brick- 
work kitchen with the inscription, " Cuisine economichey Cooks 



60 

were apparently preparing viands, whicn the women dispensed by- 
throwing plates-full at the people. The most showy of the cars in 
the precession was Neptune's. The marine deity was seated high 
on a coral throne, brilliant in gold, and surrounded by attendants. 
His musicians were fishes in brilliant glistening silver scales. The 
horses of the car and of the outriders were covered with cloths of 
the same glistening hue, and the riders were all fishes. Altogether 
it was extremely beautiful, and was conspicuous in the sunlight 
half a mile away. Soon after Neptune came a car of canaries. 
The band inside the car were an enormous nest of young birds 
with their open throats upraised for food — of course the balconies 
threw them plenty — while the parent birds rode the horses in front. 
A car full of policinellos with caps and bells followed the canaries. 
Their dresses were very gay, and high in the centre was a female 
on a fanciful seat, richly attired, but provided with a good heavy 
head-dress of wool to protect her from the missiles. A very effec- 
tive car was one of lobsters. It was a castellated structure, with 
an enormous lobster on the top. The horses were draped in red, 
and the outriders and those on the car horses were lobsters, the 
heads forming a sort of helmet, and the back joints and tail 
spreading along the horses' backs. There were minor show?, and 
many omnibuses and vehicles were prettily decorated, but the fore- 
going were the most attractive and conspicuous. The procession 
occupied nearly four hours in passing. There were what may be 
termed full-dress balconies, hung with white, set off with other 
bright colours, and occupied by men in carnival costume. There 
were two not far from U8, and the pitched battles that were per- 
petually going on between them and passing cars filled the air with 
clouds, and were quite exciting. Even the quiet balconies like our 
own could not altogether escape the general excitement. A stray 
flour-ball or two (they were made up in tinfoil with coloured paper 
shavings) found their way among us, and began to whiten some of 
our dresses. They came from another balcony of our hotel not far 
from ours. Young British blood could do nothing less than 
retaliate, and in the intervals between the passing of the more 
attractive objects in the procession, the warfare waxed hot between 
ours and the neighbouring balcony, until we were all white as 
millers. When at the close of the afternoon the enemy came over 
to us, and we fraternised on our balcony, all the balconies around 
were in an ecstacy of admiration. Our Italian friends (or foes) 
were anxious to renew the fi«lit next day, but were disappointed 
exceedingly on hearing that we were to leave Milan that night. 
They, however, drank to our healths, and wished us very heartily 
hon voyage. After dinner we visited the piazza, and went out to 
one of the portas, which was a centre of attraction. Cafes, booths, 
shows, and all the accessories of a great fair were there, and the 
street leading to it was festooned and illuminated There were not 



61 

many fancy dresses out at night, as they were all wanted for the 
remaining days of the carnival, which was to be kept up for four 
days longer, culminating on the Sunday ! 

Venice. — Leaving the music and mummers, the gaiety and glare 
of the carnival, we ensconced ourselves in railway sleeping car- 
riages a little before midnight. After many efforts to compose 
myself to sleep I succeeded at length so well that it was with some 
difficulty I was after a while induced to unroll myself from my 
'possum rug and submit to be dragged, baggage and all, down a 
long platform to a large flight of steps, and at the bottom of them 
into a dark, mournful-looking boat, with a lofty jagged prow and 
two boatmen with long oars, which they plied in a fashion quite 
their own. The first streaks of dawn were only beginning to be 
visible, but even they were lost in a few seconds as we glided 
silently along among piles and under small bridges, and looking up 
at the stars between tall houses. At that early hour no lights 
were visible, and all was a dead silence except that, as we went 
from one watery street to another, we encountered an occasional 
barge with some living occupants, who muttered some low sound, 
or perchance passed another black boat returning the melancholy 
note of warning of our gondoliers as wa turned some sharp corner. 
But still, on we quietly stole through streets and lanes, until at 
last we found ourselves at the foot of another flight of steps, and 
a dismal conversation of some sort passed between our boatmen 
and the man on the steps, which eventuated in our baggage being 
handed up, and we ourselves led into and through some strange 
passages, halls and staircases, galleries and corridors, until at last 
we were located each in a separate room. The surroundings 
were novel in the extreme. From my window I could see in the 
gradually increasing light innumerable tiles and gables, with 
cupolas and spires, beyond ; but being still only half awake I 
determined (and so did we all) to snatch a few more winks before 
the rest of that island world should be awake, and breakfast 
should reward us for the discomforts of an almost sleepless night. 
Having after this by a little eflbrt found our way back to the 
main floor and discovered the breakfast- room, the normal condi- 
tions of hotel life seemed to return, and by the aid of an English- 
speaking waiter of superior manners, we not only fared well as far 
as our bodily requirements were concerned, but gleaned some infor- 
mation of practical utility. The water-street by which we had 
entered our hotel was not the only mode of entrance. Making our 
exit by another hall and doorway we found ourselves in a narrow, 
busy street, just 7 feet wide, with modern-looking shops on either 
side, and after a turn or two emerged beneath a colonnade, which 
opened into the finest square in Europe (as the Venetians do not 
hesitate to assert). This is the Piazza San Marco. It is a hand- 
some, irregular quadrangle, averaging nearly 600 feet in length. 



62 

by about 270 feet in width. There is a continuous arcade run- 
ning round three sides of the piazza, supported by 130 arches, 
under which are the principal shops and cafes in Venice. Looking 
from the point at which we entered, the great campanile, stand- 
ing by itself, rises high toward the right. Beyond is the Church 
of St. Mark, with its curious domes, its wonderful fagade, and its 
bronze horses. On the left is the great clock tower, richly deco- 
rated and surmounted by a great orb of blue and gold ; while two 
bronze giants stand hammer in hand, with which they sound the 
hours upon the sonorous bell before them. Turning to the right 
is the smaller square or piazetta. On one side of it is the Doge's 
Palace, on the other are the mint and public library ; and beyond, 
the molo and the canals with their gondolas and sailing vessels. 
In front of the molo are the two famous monolith columns, one 
surmounted by the winged lion, the other by a figure holding a 
sword in his left hand and a shield in his right. From the top 
of the campanile (which is ascended, not by a long flight of 
steps, but by inclined planes rising up on each side, with a 
low step only at each corner), Venice and its principal canals, 
as well as the Adriatic and the distant Alps, are seen to 
great advantage. But this is all enchanted ground. Be- 
tween those monolith columns how many a head has been 
rolled on the cold stone by the sword of the executioner ! On 
that clock tower the dial plate shows the twenty -four hours, the 
signs of the zodiac, the phases of the moon, &c. Above this sits 
the Madonna in state, with, a sort of semi-circular platform in 
front and a door on each side. On certain festivals the door on 
one side opens, and an angel walks out blowing a big trumpet and 
making obeisance to the Madonna. After the angel, come three 
Eastern figures, representing the wise men of the East, or the 
three sacred kings. These bow in succession before the Madonna, 
pass in to the left-hand door, and then it is all closed up as before. 
But the Doge's palace ! What a fascination hangs about that 
wondrous old pile, still grand in age and decay ! As we ascend 
^' the Giant's Staircase" how the doges and councillors and rulers 
of this old mistress of the waters rise again in our imagination, 
ascending and descending those marble steps. Wandering through 
the now vacant halls of state, we still see on its gigantic canvas 
the memorials of the old victories which subdued states and com- 
pelled submission to the winged lion. If we ask why has all this 
glory departed, the answer seems not far to seek. Look at those 
slits in a stone wall. They were once the mouths of stone lions, 
and into them were dropped in the dead of night denunciations of 
men more innocent, probably, than their denouncers. Go then 
to the council-room where the denounced were examined, and out 
at the door through which the condemned passed ; descend then, 
torch in hand, to the horrid cells — dark, dismal, awful — with 



63 

neither light nor air except through a hole in which the light of 
a torch was seen for one half-hour. One of these dens is that in 
which no man remained for more than twenty-four hours. There 
in that terrible waJl and its murderous apertures are the evidences 
of the nightly strangulations. Stoop, then, to that low door out 
of which the heavy sack was conveyed, with its contents yet warm 
with recent life, down to that dark water which looks still guilty 
of its complicity in those fearful deeds. Out into the sea the dark 
boat floated, until the sack was sunk where net is never cast on 
pain of death. All that dread past comes up, sickening the very 
soul as you explore the vaults and passages in that " Bridge of 
Sighs," and remember, also, those fiendish contrivances still visible 
at the Arsenal with which tortures were inflicted too appalling to 
describe. Think of a state of society in which no man's life was 
secure for a single day. Once denounced, the man was missed from 
his family, who dared not inquire his fate. He was gone, whither 
the Ponte dei Sospiri or the JElio Orfano alone could tell— 

The thunderbolt 
Falls heavy, and the hand by which 'tis launched 
Is veiled in clouds. 

The strange fascination which hangs around those chambers of 
secret councils tempts one to take another look at the chamber of 
the ten^ then at the room of the still more powerful and mysterious 
three and their surroundings. When you have recovered from 
this nightrdare you may walk through the halls and galleries, and 
seek relief and repose by a contemplation of the magnificent works 
which still adorn their walls. The portraits of the Doges are to be 
seen along the frieze of the great hall of scrutiny where the ballot 
was taken which resulted in the choice of a Doge. In the hall of 
the great council, a grand apartment 175 feet long and 85 broad, 
are some wonderful frescoes and paintings, both on walls and 
ceilings, as well as portraits of all the Doges save one ; over his 
place is a black veil, with an inscription intimating that Marino 
Faliero had been decapitated for his crimes (a conspiracy to over- 
turn the commonwealth). The largest painting in the world 
occupies the wall at the east end of this room. It is '^ The Glory 
of Paradise," by Tintoretto. It is a marvellous production, but, 
like most of the old pictures of such subjects, is very unreal — 
happily for those who hope to share that elysium, or they would 
find themselves uncomfortably crowded in not altogether congenial 
company. But I must not commit myself to criticisms on the 
great painters or sculptors ; suffice it to say that in the Doge's 
Palace, its halls ^nd galleries, and grand museum, there is a wealth 
of these glorious productions. 

Beneath the high altar of St. Mark's the bones of the evangelist 
are said to rest. Whether there be any truth in the tradition or 



64 

not, does not mucla matter ; but the wondrous pile wliicli has risen 
over this venerated spot is something not likely to be forgotten by 
the dullest memory. In front the four bronze horses (supposed 
to have been taken from a triumphal arch of old Rome) weigh 
each two tons, and are of beautiful workmanship. The fa^ide is 
brilliant with mosaics. Metal doors, inlaid with silver, lead into 
the church. Within there is a dim, religious, rainbow light com- 
ing down in softened rays from its richly stained windows, while 
the walls in gold and alabaster reflect the light of many lamps 
ceaselessly burning. The immense structure, with its Saracenic 
arches and domes, its pillars of porphyry, jasper, and verd-antique, 
is richly ornamented with mosaic and wonderful marbles from all 
parts of the world ; but its vast heights and distances are dimmed 
with the smoke of incense, which gives to the whole a dreamy 
aspect. Next to St. Mark's among the churches is that of Santa 
Marie della Salute, a noble structure, with a handsome dome, 
adorned with nearly a hundred statues^ and approached from the 
Grand Canal by a flight of seventeen marble steps. Some 250 
years ago a visitation of the plague carried off 60,000 of the 
inhabitants. The Doge made a vow to erect a memorial in honour 
of the Virgin as soon as the plague was stayed, and although it was 
then at its height, it ceased instantly on the vow being made. It 
must be true, I suppose, for a group of statuary on the high altar 
represents the Virgin in the act of banishing the demons of the 
plague in recognition of the Doge's pious pledge ! In the church 
of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari is the famous monument of 
Canova. It was designed by himself for Titian's tomb, but was 
used by his pupils for his own. But of the churches of Venice a 
volume might be written. Churches^ however, abound all over 
Italy, while Venice can alone boast of her canals and gondolas. 
In one of these you glide by churches, palaces, memorials of her 
tyrants, courtiers, soldiers, merchants^ and priests, laving the 
foundations of their houses as you pass, or plashing the lower 
steps of their marble approaches. In the Grand Piazza at the 
fashionable hour the beauty and fashion of the city may be seen 
promenading beneath the Colonnade (there are no carriages in 
Venice), while a band discourses sweet music. Venice, as a whole, 
is perfectly unique in character, and in the mystic romance of her 
past history one cannot contemplate her without repeating in 
dreamy fancy — 

I saw from out the wave her structures rise, 
As from the stroke of the enchanter's wand ; 
A thousand years their cloudy wings expand 

Around me, and a dying glory smiles 

O'er the far times when many a subject land 

Looked to the winged lion's marble piles 

Where Venice sat in state, throned on her hundred isles, 



65 

" Tbe same, and yet how changed !'' If that winged lion from 
his elevation in the piazetta were but sentient, how he would 
droop his head and his rigid tail at the evidences of the mighty 
change which has come over his once wide dominions. The roar 
of the lion has been literally changed into the mild cooing of the 
** sucking dove." That " the old order changeth and givetli place 
to the new," is nowhere more manifest than in the Grand Piazza, 
where the winged creature which holds sway is no longer the lion 
but the '-sacred pigeon." A cloud of these pretty birds is always 
sweeping around, and when the giants of the clock tower strike the 
hour of two they fly with a rush to their feeding-place for their 
daily meal. As they are never shot (and it is the popular belief 
that none are ever killed) they are perfectly tame. On our first 
visit a young lady of our party, who has a passion for pets, invested 
some coppers in little paper bags of maize always ready at hand 
for such like visitors, and in another minute we had the birds upon 
our hands, arms, and shoulders, taking the food from us with the 
utmost confidence. They are held to be sacred to St. Mark, and 
penalties attach to killing them; but, of course, theirincrease has to 
be checked, or St. Mark's Piazza would soon be insufferably dirty, 
and its pigeon-keeper might do a good business in guano. 

From the historical to the practical is an easy transition, and 
the visitor to Venice finds great pleasure and some instruction in an 
inspection of the factories for mosaics and lace respectively. In the 
first you see a great deal of beautiful work in glass and porcelain, 
and a magnificent stock of choice ornaments, from which Austra- 
lian visitors have of late made rather extensive purchases, as 
almost any man of taste with ample means must be tempted to do. 
The same may be said of the lace factory, although this possesses 
interest for ladies almost exclusively. 

That the world is but a small place, and Australia already loom- 
ing large, we had proof enough in Venice (as well as other cities). 
In our hotel we met a South Australian gentleman and his family, 
with whom we could talk about mutual friends whom they had 
recently seen. As we entered the mosaic works we met an old 
Melbourne friend and his family coming out, and our inspection of 
the Doge's Palace was made in the company of a gentleman who 
was all the while talking of mutual friends of long standing in 
Melbourne. 

From Venice we started for Rome, vid Florence. We had on our 
way from Milan passed through Verona and Padua. That we 
should be in the town of the Capulets and yet unable to see it was 
mortifying. We might without much loss of time, perhaps, have 
seen the stone trough that does duty for the tomb of Juliet (but 
we could afford to miss that). Verona's great Roman amphi- 
theatre, however, would have been worth stopping for ; but it was 
night. On leaving Venice we returned again to Padua " the 



66 

learned," having crossed the great bridge of two and a quarter 
miles, said to be the longest in the world ; and although unable to 
stay beyond the brief detention of the train, we had a glimpse of 
its campaniles and cupolas, noting especially the eight domes of 
St. Antonio, more like those of a Mohammedan than a Christian 
temple. Between Padua and Bologna we crossed several well- 
known Italian rivers, and passed through some beautiful and 
fertile country, several of the places being associated with import- 
ant events connected with the wars of the ancient Romans. 
Bologna itself is a fine town, pleasantly situated at the foot of the 
Appennines. It abounds in churches and towers, many of the 
latter detached, and several of them out of the perpendicular ; none 
of them particularly handsome. Passing out through the fortifica- 
tions we began to ascend the dividing range, crossing and re- 
crossing the Reno and other streams, and passing through tunnel 
after tunnel, rising to a height of between two and three thousand 
feet before we descended on the other side into the plains of 
Tuscany, about Pistoja. In this passage of the Appennines we had 
more than once to traverse the same space twice over, but at 
different levels, in our rapid descent, and had gone through forty- 
six tunnels. From Pistoja to Florence the line runs parallel with 
the western side of the mountains, but we saw very little of the 
country, except the mountain tops in the moonlight. Late in the 
evening we arrived at Florence. After an early breakfast next 
morning we looked about upon the piazzas, palaces, and streets of 
Florence, " the city of fair flowers and flower of fair cities,'' and 
our inclinations prompted the mental exclamation — 

I pray you let us satisfy our eyes 
With the memorials and things of fame 
That do renown this city. 

But the disability under which we lay in having barely time 
enough for Rome and Naples deprived us of the opportunity of 
investigating its art treasures, inspecting its cathedral and its 
towers, especially Giotto's, which Ruskin declares to be " the 
model and mirror of perfect architecture." Here are yet to be 
seen the houses and the tombs of Michael Angelo, of Dant<5, of 
Galileo, of Gilberti, and of the great voyager Amerigo Yespucci, 
who gave the name to the great transatlantic continent, of which 
he claimed to be the discoverer. Here the Inquisition held its 
iniquitous tribunals for five centuries, and here the first thunders 
of the coming Reformation began to roll over Catholic Europe 
when Savonarola "shook the city to its centre, and swayed the 
minds of princes and people as no other man had done." That 
illustrious precursor of the reformers died at the stake in the heart 
of Florence, but Martin Luther, a few years later, following in his 
footsteps, shook the whole Roman Church. No greater disap- 



67 

pointment occurred to us in our travels than to be compelled to 
leave so many unexplored treasures as we had to do in Florence ; 
but we had to hurry on to Rome. For the entire distance we had 
the chain of the Appennines in view, the country varying in its 
aspect, but occasionally disclosing romantic bits of scenery — hills 
capped with towers, and rocky eminences carrying stone-built towns 
upon their crag-like summits. In the afternoon of the same day 
we began to look for evidences of our approach to the city of the 
Cseaars and the Popes, and after crossing the open country known 
as the Campagna our eyes were gratified with the sight of portions 
of ancient aqueducts and such-like monuments as satisfied us of 
our whereabouts, and we were soon alighting at Kome's imposing 
railway station. From the station to our hotel was only a very 
short walk across the handsome Piazza di Termini, and a few 
minutes later found us ascending in the elevator to our apartments 
in the Grand Continental Hotel. 

ROME ! What place is there in the world that can compare 
in interest with the " Eternal City 1" How its old histories 
were drunk in by many of us in our school days (and 
perhaps driven into us); and what a fascination has hung 
about all that early-acquired knowledge as we have traced 
the evidences of Roman enterprise and power in our own and 
other lands ! A first visit to Rome is therefore to most educated 
people the great sensation of their travels. Our time was all too 
short for a thorough exploration of its rich remains and magnifi- 
cent memorials, but by dint of untiring industry during the very 
few days at our disposal wecompassed a great deal ; and while 
revelling amongst the wrecks and ruins of the quondam mistress of 
the world upon her seven hills, imagination could not but be busy 
with her past. The Csesars of the Empire and the Triumvirs of 
the Commonwealth lived again ; the temples and palaces, the 
Forura and Capitol, were retrodden by the heroes of our youth ; 
while marbles and fountains, columns and catacombs, of which the 
remains lay scattered about, spoke silently but eloquently of those 
grand old times. It would only be foolish and vain to attempt to 
describe Rome as seen to-day. As, however, these notes are 
intended for the eyes of friends who may take an interest in our 
travels, I will mention some of the objects and places of interest 
specially visited — not only those connected with the worship of 
the Pantheon, but those of the more recent days of ecclesiastic 
Rome and the Papacy. 

Foremost in interest, and therefore amongst the earliest sought 
for, were the Colosseum and the Great Forum and its surroundings. 
There are several Forums, but this is the " Foro Romano," the 
great focus and centre of public life in the days of the Empire. 
We first visited the Colosseum (so named from the vastness of its 
proportions). It is nearly half a mile in circumference, and was 
made capable of accommodating 87,000 spectators. Its extreme 



68 

length is about 630 feet, and its greatest width 530 feet. The 
height was 165 feet. Further description is scarcely necessary, 
as no building in the world has probably been made more familiar 
in pictures and photographs than the Colosseum. Visitors can 
mount to the third of the four divisions of seats from which ihe 
ancient Romans viewed the gladiatorial combats or the sanguinary 
games enacted in the arena. Nine thousand animals are said to 
have been slain at the first opening of the building (then but half 
completed) by Titus, in the year 80 a.d. j and who shall count the 
thousands of men and martyrs who have since that date lost their 
lives and left their bones in that great charnel-house ! 

Almost adjoining the Colosseum is the arch of Constantino, 
consisting of a large central arch and a smaller one on each side. 
The reliefs upon it are still very well preserved. Further on, 
ascending the ancient Via Triumphalis, is the white marble arch 
of Titus, erected in honour of his conquest of Judaea and Jerusalem. 
On one side under the arch the reliefs represent the Komau, 
soldiery carrying off the spoils of the temple. It was restored not 
many years ago. Near this arch recent excavations have revealed 
large portions of the old palace of the Caesars. The excavations 
are still proceeding. On the left is the Palatine Hill, the site 
of the original city, which, according to tradition, was founded by 
Romulus. Various temples, baths, and public buildings have been 
traced within this area, including the ancient Basilica, in which it 
is said Paul was brought before Nero. Here also are remains of the 
aqueduct which supplied the Palatine, and also what once consti- 
tuted portions of the House of the Augurs, or, as some say, the 
Temple of Cybele. Descending to the Forum there are remains of 
one of the Temples of Vesta (the one in which the recent excava- 
tions were made), also the Temple of Julius. Some columns are 
still standing of the Temple of Castor and Pollux. Near at hand 
is the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, partly used in the con- 
struction of a modern church. Two marble balustrades stand in 
the adjacent area, having in excellent preservation sculptures in 
alto-relievo on each side. Near this are the old Rostrum and the 
column of the Emperor Phocas, nearly thirteen centuries old; and 
beside it is the Basilica Julia, completed in the reign of Augustus 
Csesar. The arch of Septimus Severus, built in 204 a.d., is one 
of the most perfect of the ancient monuments in and about the 
Forum. It consists of a large central and two smaller side arches. 
The statue of the Emperor and the brazen chariot with six 
horses, which once surmounted the arch, have long since 
disappeared. The Via Sacra, a favourite resort of the Roman 
literati, led from this arch through the Forum. The other 
remains of antiquity still traced in and near the Forum are 
the Temple of Saturn, of which eight Ionic colums are still to 
be seen ; part of the portico of the diiconsentes leading to the 



69 

ancient offices of the notaries and lawyers ; the Temple of 
Vespasian, of which three columns are standing. Near this is the 
Tarpeian Rock, from which Roman criminals were flung. The 
approach to the Capitol from the Forum is barred by a number of 
modern buildings, and the visitor has therefore to reach that 
famous eminence by a drive round several streets. Approached 
from the north-west (the opposite side to the Forum) the hill is 
ascended by a zigzag drive leading up to what is now called the 
Piazza di Campidoglio. At the entrance is a pair of colossal 
horses held by colossal men, and in the centre of the square is the 
bronze equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius. This was brought 
from its old site in the Forum. On the three sides of the piazza 
are buildings designed by Michael Angelo — the Senate House, the 
Conservatiore, and the Capitoline Museum of Sculpture. Tht? 
latter contains a fine collection of originals, many of them of world- 
wide fame. Proceeding northerly through two or three streets, we 
come to the Foro Triano, or Trajan's Forum, with the famous 
Trajan column of marble, covered with sculpture in bas-reliefl 
The column is now surmounted with a statue of St. Peter, which 
has been substituted for that of the Emperor — an absurd anomaly, 
considering that the bas-reliefs beneath the apostle's feet are all 
commemorative of the war of the Romans with the Dacians. The 
Forum has been sufficiently cleared of the accumulations of ages to 
show the position of the buildings which stood within its area, and 
a considerable collection of antique statuary is also exhibited, 
more or less broken and mutilated. Of the piazzas, or squares,^ 
with which Rome abounds, I can only mention a few of those 
visited. The Piazza di Pietra has on the left side, as you enter 
from the Corso, the front columns of the ancient temple of Neptune, 
now built into the walls of the Custom House. From this square 
the Via del Muratti leads to the fountain of Trevi, one of the 
handsomest of the public structures of modern Rome. The 
statuary is all colossal, the design very impressive, and the effect 
of the whole truly grand. The water is supplied by the ancient 
aqueduct "Aqua virgine," built by Agrippa in the year 27 B.C. 
The Piazza di Monte Citorio has an obelisk in the centre, and the 
building now used by the Chamber of Deputies is on one side of 
it. (I had hoped to see the House sitting, but was requested to 
come again at an hour which proved inconvenient.) The statue 
of Pompey, at whose base Caesar fell, is in the Palazzo Spade. The 
Piazza di Venezia has on one side of it the Palazzo (palace) di 
Yenezia. It is a very fine palace, built of stones taken from the 
Colosseum, and it is now occupied by the Austrian ambassador. 
Scattered about the city are various memorials of the old Roman 
times ; for example, the three temples of Hope, Juno Matuta, and 
Piety (now partly appropriated by a church) ; the temple of Fortuna 
Virilis, said to be the most ancient temple in Rome, now converted 

F 2 



70 

into the Church Santa Maria Egiziaca. One of the best known 
pictures of Roman remains is that of the little temple of the Vestas. 
As a memorial of the past it is vastly interesting ; but the interior 
is completely spoiled by the tawdry paintings and tinsel of a 
Brummagem kind of altar, by which it has been converted into a 
church. The Pantheon has also (as everybody knows) been con- 
verted into a church. This grand pile ia nineteen centuries old. 
It was used as a temple of Jupiter, and when all the bronze adorn 
ments of the interior were in position must have been a magnificent 
temple. Of all these costly ornaments, however, the Pantheon was 
despoiled by some of the popes, and the bronzes used for beautify- 
ing St. Peter's, or for casting guns with which to fight tlie Pope's 
enemies. In return for these valuables, however — said to have 
been 45^', 000 lbs. weight of bronze — Pope Urban YIII. brought 
twenty-eight cartloads of bones (supposed to be of Christians 
and martyrs) from the catacombs, and buried them under tbe-high 
altar. The body of Raphael lies in a wall near one of the altars, 
and that of the late Victor Emanuel is at present in semi-state 
on the opposite side of the church. A royal attendant keeps a book 
in which distinguished visitors sign their names ; the number of 
signatures was increased by four as the consequence of our visit. The 
Castle of St. Angelo and the bridges over the Tiber, the numerous 
palaces with their picture galleries and statues, the fountains and 
obelisks, the public gardens, the Corso and other prominent places, I 
cannot stop to describe. The catacombs are, of course, objects of 
interest to all travellers. Those we visited were the catacombs of 
St. Caliptus and St. Sebastian, in the Appian Way. Here many 
thousands of the ancient Christians were buried, and in some of 
the recesses of these places they often met for worship. There are, 
it is said, twenty miles in length of these ghastly places around Pome. 
On this Appian Way (the Via Appia), which extends from the 
city to the Albine Hills across the Campagna, are very many objects 
of interest, such as remains of aqueducts, baths, temples, and tombs, 
as well as spots now rendered famous by childish traditions and 
inventions of the Pomish Church. Jt was by the Appian Way 
that St. Paul entered Pome, a fact very interesting in itself ; but 
even this is perverted into stories of Peter and Paul meeting and 
separating, and certain supernatural appearances — footprints ot 
Christ, who, it is asserted, reproved Peter for not going into the 
city to be imprisoned and persecuted, and impressions of Peter's 
knees on a rock, where he is said to have knelt to pray for help 
against Simon Magus. 

One is met at every turn with these puerilities of Pomish 
superstition, but I have not referred to them before, as I 
endeavoured all through to separate them in my own thoughts 
from the grand old memorials of the empire and tlie com- 
monwealth. Want of space, however, in such a brief •sketch as 
this will now necessitate my taking the ecclesiastical churches 



71 

and structures of the Papacy. Chief of these are, of course, 
St. Peter's and the Vatican. St. Peter's occupies the site of Nero's 
circus, where many of the early Christians were martyred. It is 
also said to cover the grave of St. Peter; but as there is no evidence 
that Peter ever visited Rome, this must be ranked with the rest of 
the fables with which his name is associated. Raphael and 
Michael Angelo were amongst the designers and decorators of the 
church; but a considerable number of architects were employed, as 
it took about 180 years in building, extending through the reigus 
of 28 popes. Almost everyone is familiar with the front elevation 
of St. Peter's, as seen from the piazza, with its two semicircular 
colonnades, each consisting of four rows of equidistant columns. 
On the balustrade of this colonnade are statues of bishops abd 
saints, to the number of 236, each being 10 feet high. In the 
piazza are two handsome fountains, and an Egyptian obelisk 
brought to Rome by the Emperor Caligula, and erected by Nero in 
his circus. The dimensions of the church are : Length outside, 651 
feet; inside, 619 feet; width across transepts, 450 feet ; width of 
nave, 89 feet ; aisles, each 21 feet wide and 207 feet long ; the 
cupola is 140 feet in diameter, and the height from the ground to 
the cross 470 feet. St. Peter's is the largest church in the world, 
and its area is double that of St. Paul's in London. The cost of 
erecting this magnificent building, with its rich variety of marbles, 
alabasters, and precious stones, its chapels, colonnades, porticos, 
and accessories, it is impossible to estimate ; but beyond all the cost 
of construction there is the incalculable amount expended in 
paintings, frescoes, mosaics, statuary in stone and bronze, altars* 
shrines, monuments, crosses, canopies, and the endless ornamenta- 
tioDS, some of which appear to be in themselves of priceless value. 
The statues are mostly colossal, although only proportioned to the 
immensity of the area of the church. One group, for example, is 
composed of figures 16 feet high, upon pedestals of 11 feet. 
The high altar is not at the end of the church, but under the dome, 
and over it is a magnificent bronze canopy called the great Baldac- 
chino. It is supported on four spiral bronze columns 96 feet in 
height. This was made from a portion of the bronze removed from 
the Pantheon. It is said to weigh 116,390 lbs. Beneath the 
high altar is the so-called tomb of St. Peter. What would the 
bluff old fisherman have said if he had been told that thousands of 
men and women in the generations to come, including pontiffs and 
kings, would kneel before a shrine enclosed behind richly gilt 
bronze gates, and surrounded by marble and gold and a hundred 
lamps perpetually burning, in the belief that they would be doing 
homage to his poor bones'? A beautiful marble statue of Pius VI. , 
by Canova, in a kneeling posture before the shrine, as he knelt 
in life, is excellent as a specimen of the great sculptor's art. 
I cannot describe here the various chapels, altars, and shrines, 



72 

with their great pictures, mosaics, and sculptures ; but I must just 
mention the great Chair of St. Peter, which is said to contain 
within its costly exterior the plain wooden chair in which the 
apostle sat. There are also around what is called the Tribune 
(for St. Peter's is a basilica, and all the basilicas were either once 
judgment-halls or have been built on the ancient plan of judg- 
ment-halls) tablets commemorative of the great event of 1854 — the 
promulgation by the late Pope of the dogma of the Immaculate 
Conception. At the upper end of the nave is the famous bronze 
statue of St. Peter, seated on a throne of white marble. The right 
foot projects a little over the pedestal, and the devout worshippers 
— the female portion of them especially — kiss the brazen toe 
and place their heads under the projecting foot. The toe is, of 
course, very much the worse for the homage which has been 
paid to it, being nearly half kissed away. There are some memo- 
rials of the proclamation of the Pope's infallibility, but they are 
not thrust prominently forward — the less made of them perhaps 
the better 

The Vatican adjoins St. Peter's. As everybody knows, it 
is the palace of the Pope. It might have been expected 
that the professed descendant of St. Peter would have been satis- 
fied with a modest home, but the Vatican is the largest palace in 
the world. As a grand museum of art it must command the 
homage of the educated of all nations. Some of the chef dfoeuvres 
of the greatest masters in painting and sculpture, from Raphael 
and Michael Angelo downwards, occupy the ceilings, walls, cor- 
ridors, and courts of the palace, and fill the visitor with wonder 
and admiration. There is much in the conceptions of the old 
masters which of course we cannot commend. They are 
too material in their delineations of supernatural subjects. 
Michael Angelo's famous fresco of the Last Judgment is a case in 
point; so also are those of Perugino (Raphael's master). Others 
of them are disfigured by the representations of miracles or some 
superstitious legends. The Sistine Chapel is one of the principal 
halis j but there are numerous others filled with exquisite treasures 
of art, and the museum of sculpture contains half a dozen halls 
full of statuary, mostly antique. It cannot be said that all the 
sculptures in the Vatican collection are equal, or that all are meri- 
torious, for many of them must have found a place there simply 
because^ they are ancient. The late Pope, notwithstanding his 
complaint of poverty, must have spent a large sum on his palace. 
One statue of Hercules is said to have been purchased by him for 
.£10,000. The Vatican, however, is only one, though the largest, 
of the Roman palaces which contain valuable collections of paint- 
ings and sculpture. 

In a building adjoining the Lateran Palace is the holy staircase 
(Scala Santa). It is composed of twenty-eight marble steps, said 
to have belonged to the house of Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem, and 



73 

to be the identical staircase which our Lord descended after leaving 
the judgment-seat. Above the staircase is a chapel, and within 
some bars over the altar are preserved some ancient relics, also 
supposed to have been brought from Jerusalem. These stairs must 
not be ascended on foot ; but the devout frequenters of the place 
clamber up them on their knees, look through the bars on the 
altar-piece above, and then walk down one of the side staircases 
(exactly resembling the centre one), which are not sacred. A more 
than ordinarily devout worshipper now and then will repeat the 
performance, but most of them find one ascent enough at a 
time, especially as many consider it proper to rest at almost every 
step to count beads or repeat prayers. 

Returning once more to the churches, we find St. John 
Lateran (San Giovani Laterano), which is the cathedral church 
of Rome, and therefore, according to the claims of the church, the 
head of all churches in the world. Apart from this pretension it 
is a grand edifice. The great fagade is very impressive. The 
figures which surmount the cornice are of colossal dimensions — 
that of the Saviour is 22 feet high, and those of the saints and 
apostles are 20 feet. It contains ten chapels, each possessing some 
valuable works of art ; and the church is even more wealthy than 
St. Peter's in that peculiar species of wealth upon which the Papal 
Church sets so high a value — that is to say, ancient relics. The 
faithful are taught to believe that amongst the articles kept here 
are the top of the table at which the Last Supper was celebrated 
by our Lord, an altar made from bronzes brought from the temple 
at Jerusalem, portions of the manger in which our Lord was born, 
the shirt and seamless coat made for him by the Virgin Mother 
with her own hands, some of the barley loaves and small fishes 
with which the five thousand were fed, the linen cloth with which 
our Lord dried the apostles' feet, Aaron's rod that budded, and 
Moses' rod with which he smote the Red Sea and the rock. They 
have also a tabernacle which is said to contain the heads of St. 
Peter and St. Paul. One of the monuments, too, is rather 
unique, for the bones of Pope Sylvester II,, which are beneath it, 
are said to rattle in their coffin when any one of his successors is 
about to die. Rome, however, abounds in relics ; and of churches 
it is said there are 365 in Rome, so that, if named after the days 
of the year, each day might have a church to itself. As places of 
worship most of them are comparative failures. At the hours of 
service you may find frequently half a dozen women and still 
fewer decrepid old men upon their knees, while the teeming 
thousands outside scarcely ever enter the church doors, except in 
the Holy Week and some of the great festivals, when crowds are 
attracted by the ceremonials. Next to St, Peter's, one of the most 
beautiful of the interiors is that of St. Paul's, outside the walls. 
It is a basilica, and is quite modern, being, in fact, still incomplete, 
the former church having been destroyed by fire sixty years ago. 



74 

The harmonious proportions and colours strike the visitor on 
entering as approaching perfection. The area is, of course, less 
than that of St. Peter's, nor can it compare with that grand struc- 
ture in the richness of its paintings or the costliness of its shrines. 
It has, however, the richest display of malachite to be seen any- 
where in altar-pieces and monuments (the malachite was mostly a 
present from the late Emperor of Russia). It also possesses 
columns of the most beautiful marbles and alabasters, and among 
its statuary two colossal figures of St. Peter and St. Paul. There 
is also along the frieze a set of medallion portraits (heroic size) of 
all the popes." 

I must not omit to mention the Mamertine Prison. It consists 
of two dungeons, one below the other, cut out of the Tarpeian 
Rock, near the Capitol ; and here it is said St, Paul was coDfined 
before his execution. As, however, the Apostle Peter is dragged 
into every possible (and impossible) event of the apostolic days, it 
is asserted that the two were imprisoned here together. Miracles, 
of course, are attributed to them, one of which was that they con- 
verted their gaolers, and then caused a miraculous spring to flow 
from the rock, in which the converts were baptised. The cells are 
horrible dens, bearing on the walls the undoubted evidences of 
chains and strangulations. In a door leading down to the lower 
prison is an iron grating, much the worse for wear and age, but 
some marks upon it are said to be the impression of St. Peter's 
face as he pressed against it to speak to his friends. In a sort of 
shrine, with iron bars in front, are two carved heads, representing 
St. Peter and St. Paul. Over this prison a church has been built, 
named " San Giuseppe de Falegnami" (St. Joseph of the Car- 
penters). 

On the eastern side of the city drives and walks extend to 
numerous places of interest, stretching from the very walls far out 
into the Campagna. Here may be seen roads whose pavement has 
borne the wear of centuries ; towers commemorating the great 
struggles of remote ages ; tombs of the noble and wealthy of old 
Rome, and all mixed up with little chapels, crosses, and images, 
many of them memorials of deeds of violence in more modern 
days. The Via Appia and the remains of the ancient Yia Latina 
are rich in these remains, and from them are obtained fine views 
of the Albine Mountains on the one hand, and the Sabine Moun- 
tains on another side, with the world-famed Tivoli, beauteous in 
decay, and once the resort of those old Greeks who were the 
world's masters before Rome had a name. 

But I must take a reluctant farewell of Rome, the *' eternal," 
its forums and temples, its columns and obelisks, its palaces and 
piazzas, its fountains and monuments, its churches and theatres 
and streets, and its greatest monument of all — the Colosseum. 
While in Rome I found a little time to look into the arrangements 



75 

in progress for supplying the city with telephonic comnjunication. 
One company has been for some time in existence, and has a long 
list of subscribers. A new company has been only a few months 
at work, but it seems likely to take the lead, as it is adopting the 
newest and most perfect inventions of the day. If its anticipa- 
tions are realised this ancient city will soon be ahead of all 
modern cities in the completeness of its application of the latest 
discovery of practical science. 

Leaving Rome, whence the railway line for a time follows the 
course of the ancient Via Latina, we pass through some grand 
scenery, all rich in old associations. Towns, towers, and monasteries 
crown the adjacent heights, and old ruins strew the plains. We 
pass through tunnels and over viaducts^ touching at numerous 
places of historic note. Yelletri, an ancient city of the Volscians, 
was a rival of Rome for centuries before the Christian era. It 
was fortified by Coriolanus, and within it Augustus was born. Near 
here some more modern battles have also been fought. Leaving 
Velletri we enter a valley with mountains on each side, rising to 
heights of three and four thousand feet. Alatri (the ancient 
Aletrium) is another place that challenges our attention, with its 
stupendous fortifications, castle, and aqueduct. Some few miles of 
fertile country, abounding in vineyards and olive plantations, bring 
us to the frontier of what used to be the papal dominions — a 
place once notorious for its brigands. After this we get again into 
more broken country, and the heights near us and projecting 
ridges of the i^ppennine Hills are crowned with towns and citadels. 
A little further on we were discussing the wars of Hannibal, who 
in this neighbourhood was encamped with his army, and also the 
birthplace of Thomas Aquinas, near at hand, when suddenly the 
train came to a sta^^dstill. By this time it was dark, and we could 
only gather from the guards, who were rushing about with lighted 
lanterns, that there was something wrong with the engine. Another 
engine was telegraphed for from the nearest station, and at length 
we were released from our detention, but arrived in Naples two 
hours behind time, only reaching our hotel considerably after mid- 
night. 

Naples. — Probably there is no city in Europe that can com- 
pare with Naples for the beauty of its position. The romantic 
hills that enclose it like an amphitheatre sloping down to the 
verge of its beautiful bay, the grand sweep of its shores round 
southward to Castellamare, Sorrento, and the Island of Capri, and 
northward by Pozzuoli Procida, and ever-interesting but unfortu- 
nate Ischia, constitute together a picture that can only be under- 
stood by actual inspection, and which once seen can never be for- 
gotten. The best view of Naples and its surroundings is from the 
sea. For the purpose of enjoying this grand panorama we took 
boat at the quay of St. Lucia, near our hotel, and shaped a course 



76 

ior Sorrento, crossing the bay obliquely, which at about mid- 
distance placed us in the centre of the great amphitheatre. The 
one essential of a clear sky, however, was wanting, so that we had 
only flitting glimpses until after we landed at Sorrento. From 
thence, however, we saw almost the entire sweep of the bay 
under a brilliant sun and with all the conditions favourable for 
thoroughly appreciating it. It is indeed a scene of surpassing 
loveliness. We had opportunities afterwards of contemplating it 
from other points — notably from Vesuvius, where the view changed 
at every stage of the ascent and descent of the mountain ; and 
from the eminences at the back of the town we saw the whole 
picture from another standpoint — the bay beneath our feet, and its 
two horns receding from us on the right and the left. Naples is a 
large city, with half a million of inhabitants. Like Rome, it 
abounds in churches, of which there are no less than 350, some of 
which contain beautiful works of art in sculpture and painting. 
The church of the Gerolomini has the finest paintings of any we 
visited, two especially of Guido's. One of the chapels attached to 
the Cathedral, which is dedicated to St. Januarius (or San Gen- 
ii aro), contains some highly valued works and relics. There are 
paintings and bronzes and marble statuary commemorative of 
the raising of a dead man at the saint's tomb, of a sick man cured 
with oil taken from a lamp at the same tomb, the curing a 
demoniac by the saint, and San Gennaro leaving the fiery furnace, 
into which he had been cast by the Praetor of Galerius. On the 
saint being thrown into the flames sweet music was heard ; and 
on the door being opened the flames leaped out and slew the 
Praetor's soldiers, but the saint and his deacons walked out 
unharmed ! He was afterwards decapitated, and two phials full of 
his blood — dried up, of course, fifteen hundred years ago — are kept 
behind the altar of this chapel, and they miraculously liquefy on 
certain days every year, when exhibited (under certain conditions) 
to the wondering gaze of the faithful. This exhibition, like that 
of the weeping pictures, must have an immense influence in pro- 
moting the piety of the Neapolitans ! There are two royal palaces 
in Naples each worthy of a visit, and several private palaces 
which may be very well passed over ; two castles, the one now a 
prison, the other a barrack. There is an excellent aquarium, 
for, although small, it contains perhaps the best collection of 
z >ophytes in Europe. The National Museum is well deserving of 
its title. It has a wealth of statuary and remains from Ancient 
Rome, Pompeii, and Herculaneum; sculptures, frescoes and mosaics, 
marbles, bronzes, medals, coins, and sarcophagi ; mummies from 
Egypt ; glass and terra-cotta ornaments, jewellery, and plate ; 
ancient curios in infinite variety ; and a splendid library of 200,000 
volumes, besides a rich collection of old manuscripts and auto 
graphs. Two large wings of the building are filled with paintings 



77 

by celebrated masters, admirably arranged in suites of rooms dis- 
tinguishing the various schools of painting. It is not, however, in 
its churches or its catacombs, its museums, palaces, or theatres, that 
we see the characteristics of Naples. All these are to be seen in 
other cities, but in its street life Naples is unique. Its teeming 
population appear to live out of doors or in doorways. There is 
one beautiful thoroughfare — the Chiaja (pronounced kiaia) — which 
is the fashionable carriage drive. It is bounded by an ornamental 
plantation and walks called the Villa Reale, and parallel with the 
latter is a sea wall of the great bay. The Chiaja, however, is quiet 
and aristocratic. The great business street is the Strada di Roma 
and its continuation, which is the famous Ti^ledo. The latter con- 
tains many of the public buildings, but the Strada is full of shops, 
and that and the narrow streets branching off from it are densely 
thronged during the business hours of the day by people who are 
pursuing their callings, and during the evening by promenaders. 
How the vehicles thread their way through the moving mass 
seems surprising. Here the street cries are heard contributing 
greatly to the general din ; but to hear them at their loudest you 
must go to the markets, especially that in the Largo del Mercato, 
on a market day. (It was in this square that Masaniello excited 
the people to revolt.) We also saw a great deal of this marvellous 
street-life every day along the quays, as our hotel was between 
them and the Chiaja ; and in our drive to and from Vesuvius, in 
the streets next the bay, and extending along it for miles, pages 
would be needed to describe the numberless peculiarities of this 
restless, noisy people, and the occupations carried on in streets and 
doorways. 

The ascent of Vesuvius is one of the feats that an Australian 
traveller feels bound to perform. We started after breakfast in 
the usual style for the ascent — namely, in a landau, drawn by 
three horses abreast, their bells jingling, and our jehu perpetually 
cracking his whip to warn the pedestrians crowding every street 
(for in most of them there are no side-walks, or these walks are 
occupied by working traders or vendors of various commodities, 
and the crowds spread themselves all over the thoroughfares). 
Following the shores of the bay for about three miles, we arrive at 
Portici, and then at Resina, mere continuations of Naples, passing 
numerous macaroni factories, in front of which large quantities of 
the farinaceous delicacy (?) were suspended on long poles or rods. 
At Resina we left the bay side, and began to wind upwards 
through vineyards and gardens until we reached the first of the 
lava fields. Here the roadway has been made in zigzag fashion 
over and across the brown rugged masses, some portions jagged 
and crested like the waves of an angry sea, others in serpentine, 
tortuous shapes, as if the molten flood had only just cooled, and 
glossy in patches with the iridescence of its mineral elements. At 



78 

2000 feet above the sea we arrive at the observatory on the 
shoulder of the mountain. Thence a road still gradually ascend- 
ing leads to the foot of the cone and the railway station, from which 
visitors may now ascend, at a gradient of about one in two or three, 
if they will trust themselves to be lifted almost perpendicularly u p^ 
the mountain side, instead of dragging their weary way through 
ashes and pumice-stone on foot, or being carried on horses or 
donkeys. We chose the railway, but dared scarcely look below us 
as we were drawn up by the wire rope, so dizzy did it look with 
Naples and the bay spread out beneath us, and the ships and craft 
like mere specks on the blue water. We were glad to step out at 
the upper station, and to feel our feet, although the ground here- 
about is not very firm, for a few paces bring us on to scoriae and 
pounded pumice, with volcanic rocks and mineral fragments. 
Having secured the services of a guide, we found ourselves fol- 
lowed by a crowd of would-be attendants, some with chairs, in 
which they wished the ladies to ride, upborne by four carriers 
(price only fifteen francs) ; others with straps and loops, and 
similar contrivances, to assist us in clambering up the precipitous 
and broken ground. We beat them off for a time, but as there is 
a confederacy among these men to plunder every foreign visitor, 
the professional guide took care to lead us into a nasty bit of the 
road where the smoke and sulphur were suffocating, and nothing 
could be seen through the cloud coming over us from the crater, 
where he insisted that we could not go further without assistance 
(the charge for which was only three francs for each person). As 
far as the ladies were concerned, it was only prudence to yield ; 
but the importunity of the still unemployed guides became per- 
fectly exasperating, as they seized an arm, or pressed one's back, or 
thrust their straps and loops almost into one's hand. I beat them 
off with my stick as well as I could, for although there were diffi- 
culties and obstructions to be overcome, and hot sulphur beds to be 
escaped, I felt that if these men (and some of them were old men) 
could get over them, so could I ; and I was the only member of 
our party who persisted in being independent of them. But the 
crater ! At last we got to the windward side, and clambered to 
the edge of this awful gulf. Below the fiery fluid mass was bel- 
lowing and thundering, while every other minute the explosive 
forces shot up fire, and steam, and rocks, and scoriae. This was the 
culminating sensation. Two of us had together undergone the 
baptism of Niagara in the cave of the winds beneath the American 
falls. Here we had the antithetical experience of a " baptism of 
fire" — the molten sea of the earth's centre roaring beneath us, its 
expectorated fire and fragments shooting far above our heads, and 
clouds of steam and sulphurous gases rising about our feet. I 
would have lingered long to look upon this awful sight, but the 
ladies were somewhat alarmed, and the shouting of the guides 



79 

drew me away. The black lava and rocks, and ashes around were 
set off with patches of sulphur, and minerals of the most brilliant 
colours ; and the guides — ready at every turn to make money out 
of us — were picking up pieces of soft lava and inserting copper 
coins in them, which, as the lava hardened, became palpable evi- 
dence of its once plastic condition. We now descended over rocks, 
ledges of lava, and pumice, until we had completed the circuit of 
the cone and returned to our starting point. Dismissing our 
guides, we re-entered our oddly constructed railway car, the seats 
being in tiers, rising terrace-like one above another. Having 
acquired a little confidence in the ascent, we could look out more 
serenely in the descent to enjoy the magnificent prospect below us 
— the graceful curve of the bay, the long winding shore, the rocky 
heights and headlands about Sorrento and the Island of Qapri on 
the one hand, and Ischia and Procida on the other, Naples itself, 
with its gay suburbs, forming the head of the semicircle. It was 
worth all the toil of the ascent, even if it had been much more 
toilsome than it was. This railway is worked by a stationary 
engine, which keeps a wire rope running over drums, and to which 
two carriages are attached, one of which is at the bottom of the 
incline while the other is at the top, and they balance each other 
while the one is going up and the other down. The cars are 
peculiar j instead of being horizontal, they are almost perpendicular, 
the seats rising one above the other. Resuming our carriage at 
the lower station, where there is a museum and a restaurant, we 
rattled down the mountain side, getting ever-varying views of 
the lava fields, the great campagnas, the distant hills^ and the city 
and its lovely bay. There are many roadside places where, both in 
the ascent and descent, the excursionist is urged to partake of 
some lachryma Christi, the wine for which the slopes are famed, 
but none of it was captivating enough in appearance to tempt our 
})alates. We regained our hotel as the table d'hote bell was ring- 
ing, after a day's outing which can never be forgotten. 

Sorrento — not that of Port Phillip, but the Sorrento from 
which the other was named by Sir Gavan Duffy — is one of the 
most charming of the many pretty places near Naples. As you 
approach it from the sea it looks like a fortification, with its per- 
pendicular rocks and immense walls, surmounted by some fine 
hotels, villas, and picturesque buildings. On reaching the summit 
you find yourself amongst orange and lemon groves and gardens, 
and extending your rambles you find that ravines and gorges 
almost insulate the town. These ravines, however, are rich in 
golden fruits and romantic in their broken forms, so weird -like in 
the gloaming and moonlight that the superstitious people light 
tapers in the little chapels and oratories perched on the rocks and 
hillsides to keep away the hobgoblins. Where nature's hand has 
scattered beauties so lavishly, and all around is pleasing, it is 



80 

mournful to see a townfuU of beggars. We were followed every- 
whereby men, women, and children, with outstretched palms ; and 
the Yetturinos with their landaus (some of them ragged and 
dirty) would have run us down and become themselves a mixed 
mass of locked wheels if we had not found a policeman to drive 
them back. The olive grows to such perfection about these hills 
that mementos of the place are manufactured at several shops in 
the principal street out of these and the lemon tree. Beautiful 
ornaments and articles of utility are made, in which you can have 
your initials inlaid or some piece of ornamentation that may strike 
your fancy. These were about the only places that appeared to 
be doing any business, except the hotels (which are very good). 
The promontory which divides the Bay of Naples from the Bay of 
Salerno is intersected longitudinally by a rocky, mountainous 
ridge, and the country on either side is broken and beautifully 
romantic, stretching down to each shore. The drive from Amalfi. 
to Salerno on the one shore, and that from Sorrento to Castella- 
mare on the other, are two of the most charming in the Italian 
Peninsula. We took the latter on our way from Sorrento to 
Pompeii. Soon after leaving Sorrento and its beautiful gardens 
and olive groves we emerged upon a road cut for some distance in 
the rocky hillside, and from every wind and turn of which we had 
the most delightful views of the bay and its winding shores, of 
Naples and its hilly background, and of the islands which termi- 
nate the two horns of the bay. As the day was a bright and 
lovely one the white sails on the blue water helped to make up 
that ravishing picture upon which visitors to Naples delight to 
descant. Several little villages lie scattered amongst the rocks and 
hillsides on the way, with pretty churches, and convents, and 
castles on rocky eminences and projections. These are heightened 
in beauty and contrast by winding roads and ravines crossed by 
viaducts, and rich valleys of deep green, dotted with the golden 
clusters of lemons and oranges. Castellamare has been built on 
the site of the ancient Stabies, destroyed in the g-reat eruption 
which overwhelmed Pompeii and Herculaneum. Its castle 
occupies a romantic position, and the town and its suburbs are 
overshadowed by the Monte St. Angelo, which rises at the back of 
it to a height of over 4000 feet. 

Pompeii. — Of Pompeii what can be said in such a superficial 
sketch as this 1 Books have been written, and will continue to be 
written, about the revelations and the relics of this disentombed city 
— once the resort of emperors and nobles of old Rome, and famed 
in their time for its baths and gladiatorial displays. The remains 
are shown you of fifty places of special interest, either public or 
private, and whole blocks of streets and houses are laid bare. 
From these it is evident that land must have possessed a high 
value, and been estimated, like the building land of London, at so 



81 

much per square foot, for there are very few feet in some of the 
blocks that were not covered by houses or their accessories. In 
some of the better class of houses and in the public buildings the 
frescoes are still fresh, as if painted only a few years ago instead 
of two thousand years. It was in the year 63 a.d. that the first 
warnings were given of the coming catastrophe. The beautiful 
La Somma, then a vine-covered mount of some 2000 feet high, in 
that year was shaken to its centre, and many of the buildings in 
Pompeii were laid in ruin. Even Naples itself suffered greatly 
from the shock. The tyrant Nero was at the time conducting a 
grand musical entertainment, in which we are told that five 
hundred voices were assisting in a great cantata of the Emperor's 
own composition, when the building reeled under the effects of the 
earthquake. Nero would not allow even an earthquake to stop 
the performance, and forbade any one leaving until the singing was 
finished. Many persons were consequently buried in the ruins of 
a portion of the building which fell. Nero himself (unfortunately) 
escaped, though very narrowly. Seventeen years afterwards, when 
the alarm of the first warning had subsided, sudden destruction 
came upon the doom sd cities, and in two days Herculaneum, 
Resina, Aplonte, Tagianum, Taurania, Pompeii, and Stabies were 
buried out of sight. It was not until the middle of the last cen- 
tury that the work of disentombment commenced. The results 
visible to-day constitute one of the world's marvels. We see from 
the domestic utensils, furniture, paintings, and works of art how 
the people of Pompeii lived, and (although the spectacle is a 
ghastly one) we see how many of them died, for their contorted or 
prostrate bodies, or casts of them, formed by the debris from the 
mountain, are there before the visitor's eyes. Pompeii, though 
not a first-class city, must have been a place of some importance, 
with its two theatres and its great amphitheatre, its Forum and 
Basilica, its extensive public and private baths, its numerous 
temples, its columns and marbles, its choice paintings, and its 
numberless sculptures and works of art in stone and bronze. How 
profoundly impressive is the thought, as we tread the streets and 
squares and temples of the city to-day, that the people who crowded 
those streets eighteen centuries ago trod the same flags and pave- 
ments — that after its deathlike torpor of all that long interval it 
comes up again to our gaze unchanged in its main features as they 
inhabited it, but silent, roofless, deserted, an awful reminder of 
man's impotence in the face of nature's gigantic forces, and of the 
living burial which may annihilate whole citiesfull of men and 
women in a single night ! 

We left Naples at four in the morning for Brindisi, which place 
we reached late in the evening of the same day. In crossing the 
peninsula from the Mediterranean to the Adriatic we had again to 
traverse some rather steep gradients to surmount the extension of 



82 

tlie Appennine mountains which lay in our way. They are crossed, 
however, at a lower altitude than in the north of Italy. Some 
rather fine country is to be met with among the hills, and the 
country bordering on the Adriatic through which we passed from 
Foggia to Brindisi is extremely fertile ; mile after mile of olive 
groves extend along the sea shores, some of them evidently of great 
age from the gnarled trunks of the olive trees. The towns become 
more Eastern in character, the houses being mostly square, with 
flat roofs. 

Brindisi (the ancient Brundusium) is rather a dirty and 
uninteresting town, but very old. It was for a time the harbour 
from whence the Roman fleets sailed to Greece or the East ; and 
it was the scene of a great siege by Julius Caesar's army, against 
whom it was held by Pompey. 

General Observations. —There are many things we could not 
fail to take note of in the small towns, villages, and country dis- 
tricts of Italy through which we passed. Some of them it may be 
worth while to refer to briefly. 

Italy is a country of fruits. Forests of olives and miles of vine- 
yards are seen in many parts, and the latter must have largely 
increased in number and area of late, or the want of a wider 
market for its surplus wines (of which I heard a great deal in Lon- 
don) would have made itself felt long ago. The wines are not very 
popular in northern Europe at present, but we met with some good 
samples of them in the south of Italy, notably some varieties of the 
" Inferno" and another wine resembling the Australian Frontig- 
nac. One peculiar mode of training the vines I have already 
referred to, where in the north of Italy tall stone posts or pillars 
are used on which to train the square trellises over head. Simi- 
larly trellised grounds were noticeable farther south, with stakes 
or posts of wood. In many place.-^, however, the vines are cut low, 
and creep almost along the ground. The most striking vineyards 
and gardens are those in which trees are planted in squares, and a 
vine is planted near each tree, and trained up it, the branches 
being trained ofi" at right angles at a height of five or six feet to 
the next tree, so that when all are in full leaf the trees must look 
as if garlanded in green, and clasping hands each with his neigh- 
bour ready for a dance all down the field. As we saw them denuded 
of foliage, the appearance, though quite as peculiar, was not so 
pretty. 

In the matter of national costumes we were rather disappointed. 
The Italian women are doubtless fond of brilliant colours, and in 
some country places we saw these pretty well displayed. So in 
Milan, at the carnival, amongst the arrivals from the country were 
some dresses of distinctive character ; but the regulation suits, as 
seen in picture galleries, are about as exceptional in Italian towns 
as the Highland kilt is in Glasgow or Edinburgh. 



83 

Italian towns are not so well supplied as English or Australian 
towns with water for domestic purposes. The water-carriers are, 
therefore, still a distinct class, and ply their trade after the manner 
of their predecessors, whatever that particular manner may happen 
to have been. In some of the northern towns, for example, the 
water is carried from the public fountains by the women in copper 
vessels. Hence, I was not surprised to see in one of the large 
picture galleries an admirable painting of Christ and the woman 
of Samaria at the well, in which the " water-pot" was a copper 
vessel such as the Venetian painter was familiar with. In the 
southern towns kegs and skins were the " water-pots," and these 
were carried by men. I saw one or two asses' skins, but most of 
them were the hides of what must have been very bloated hogs, 
and when filled and hauled over the man's shoulder by the tail 
they have a most unromantic resemblance to a dead pig with dis- 
tended body, but without head or legs. 

I don't know whether there are any soap-boiling establishments 
in Italy. Among the variety of smells, neither faint nor few, by 
which our olfactories were assailed, we did not detect that par- 
ticular stink. My private opinion, as the result of extended obser- 
vation, is that Italy is not a good market for the celebrated 
productions of Kitchen and Sons or any other promoters of clean 
skins. Still, however, washing has to be done, and from my 
limited experience it can be fairly done (if more than fairly paid 
for), but the life of a linen shirt must be a short and troubled one 
in these parts. Where there are rivers, long, barge-like con- 
trivances line the shore for a considerable distance, on which the 
women carry on their laundry work ; where there are no rivers 
public tanks are provided ; but in either case the article to be 
purified is treated as an enemy, and an unfair advantage is taken 
of its defenceless condition by banging it with clubs or stones 
until the laundress has sufficiently gratified her vindictiveness. I 
did not see the after process. My shirts, however, were quite 
satisfactory in appearance when returned to me, except that the 
button-holes, made purposely for small studs, had gaping mouths 
and lips as if the laundress had worked them up with some imple- 
ment — perhaps her little finger — from behind. 

In connection with female employments, I could not but be 
struck with the manner in which I saw several women (and I 
suppose it is a common custom) dispose of their infants. The little 
creatures are bound and swathed like the " papoose" of the Ameri- 
can Indian squaw, and can be held like a toy pulcinello by the 
projecting stick at the feet, or laid on their back on a table or shelf, 
or hooked up against a wall; and the little projecting head at the 
top of this miniature mummy smiles and seems quite happy. Such 
is the force of habit, even in its earliest stage, unless Italian 
children are to this " manner born," and take to it as to a law of 
their nature. 

G 



84 

As to the vehicles of the Italians, I wonder how they would 
regard an American buggy 1 Perhaps with as much want of 
appreciation as the Yankee farmer would exhibit for the Italian 
waggon. The latter is an extremely primitive arrangement, and 
you may often see examples of them which you may well believe 
to have survived the ruins of the Empire, but to have degenerated 
in the survival. The peasant farmer finds more use for his cow 
than does the British or Australian husbandman, for he yokes her 
with his donkey to the primitive, narrow, elongated waggon, to 
take his produce to market or bring home his purchases from town. 
Perhaps the best of all the Italian towns for seeing the national 
vehicles in their greatest variety is Naples. In the streets 
diverging from the principal markets and the great thoroughfares 
leading to the suburbs skirting the bay, you see them to per- 
fection. Some of the single horse-carts (the poor animal orna- 
mented with tufts and tassels of red and yellow) are passenger 
vehicles for the peasants, a sort of cheap omnibus on which a 
pyramid of fourteen or fifteen people are often piled ; and you 
expect every instant to see the whole afiair collapse, crushed under 
its excessive weight, or to see the lean and limping animal drop 
from sheer exhaustion. In these and all the public vehicles the 
horses, or mules, or donkeys are adorned with bells, which fill the 
air of the thoroughfares with the sound of their endless jingle. 
The private waggons and carts also have bells generally ; but as a 
rule the poor animals are very unequally yoked — a cow or an ox 
is seen by the side of a horse or a mule or a donkey ; in fact, the 
changes are rung by varying the nature of animals all round. The 
colours and character of the ornaments on the heads and shoulders 
of the animals differ also, and when three donkeys or mules are 
run abreast — a very common team — the centre one has a most 
elaborate contrivance on his shoulders by which the three are 
reined together. English tourists mostly travel on a sort of 
" Brett" or *' landau," drawn by one, two, or three horses, accord- 
ing to distance and number of passengers. The veturino, or driver, 
has to be very smart, and his whip is cracking all the way through 
the thronged streets as the foot passengers spread themselves 
across the thoroughfares. 

Another peculiarity of the Italians is the indifference mostly 
shown to the remains of the dead. In the cemeteries attached to 
the large cities large pits are provided, which are the common 
graves of the poor, a whole crowd of bodies being placed in each 
day's separate pit, and another being prepared for the 
next day's dead. The bodies are, as a rule, placed in the slen- 
derest of coffins, or mere cases, and taken to a church set apart for 
the purpose, from whence they are carted to the cemetery at night. 
In other cases the relations hand over the body to a society, who, 
as an act of piety and self-denial, undertake the melancholy duties 



85 

which the deceased's relatives perform in English communities. 
These professional attendants wear priestly black gowns, and over 
these (covering head, shoulders, and generally to the knees) white 
muslin sacs, with holes for the eyes and mouth. I have already 
mentioned some children's funerals at Milan, conducted somewhat 
in this fashion by women and little girls. In the case of the 
wealthy, however, the funerals are sometimes as imposing as most 
other Catholic ceremonies. Sometimes a sham sarcophagus is 
erected in a church, and covered with a pall, over which are placed 
the memorials of the dead, if he is a well-known man, and his 
friends are invited to the church to take part in some religious 
services. I saw one grand funeral in Naples of a nobleman's 
daughter. The church was half filled with priests and mourners 
with lighted tapers, and after the service the coffin was placed in 
a hearse with glass sides, through which it was seen, covered with 
wreaths and lighted candles, and thus, drawn by six horses, and 
followed by a great crowd on foot and a long line of carriages 
(mostly empty), it was conveyed to the family mausoleum. 

From Brindisi to Alexandria by steamer (ours was the ** Surat") 
there is, of course, very little to be seen but sea and sky. Never- 
theless, that little possesses some interest. We steam out into the 
*' Blue Adriatic" opposite the coast of the ancient Illyricum, and 
not far from the borders of the modern Montenegro. After sight- 
ing Otranto, on the " heel" of the Italian " boot," with its old 
castle, full of romantic interest, we pass on the opposite side Corfu 
and the hill country of the Corea, at the back of which lies the 
mainland, called in Scripture history Epirus and Macedonia. On 
the second day we pass the Ionian Isles — the latter held by Britain 
for many years, but now ceded to G-reece. Some of these are 
scarcely discernible; but we get a good view of Cephalonia, then of 
Zanta (the old Zacanthus), and later on we are within sight of the 
last bit of Europe on which our eyes will rest. It is Cape Mata- 
plan, the south-westerly projection of the mainland of Greece 
(called in the New Testament Achaia). We get also a glimpse of 
the island of Cerigo, the ancient Cytherea. By-and-by the rugged 
mountainous country of the south-west corner of Crete comes into 
view, and we sail beside it for a considerable distance. Not far 
from us, although beyond the range of our view, is the old har- 
bour and town of Phenice, mentioned in the Acts as possessing a 
good harbour for trading vessels of that day to winter in. After 
almost losing sight of the Cretan Hills we come upon the island of 
Clauda, which lies in front of that part of the Cretan coast where 
the port mentioned in St. Luke's account of the voyage of St. Paul 
as the " Fair Haven" is situated. We are told in the 27th of the 
Acts that at Myra, a city of Lycia, the centurion in charge of 
Paul and other prisoners, finding a ship of Alexandria (a cornship, 
doubtless) sailing to Italy, transferred his prisoners to her. After 

g2 



86 

a tedious course of " many days" they came upon the eastern 
extremity of Crete at " Salmone," and '' hardly passing it, came 
into a place which is called the Fair Havens, nigh whereunto was 
the city of Lasea." The bad season had set in, and Paul, with his 
prophetic eye, saw disaster ahead, and advised them to winter 
there. The skipper, however, thought he knew better than a mere 
landsman, and he preferred pushing on for Phenice, which was well 
sheltered, and, in his opinion, the best winter quarters. Taking 
advantage of a moderate southerly breeze, they put out to sea, but 
very soon the wind stiffened into a gale, known at that season and 
in those parts as '^ Euroclydon," and they had to let the vessel run 
before it until they came under the island of Clauda, above men- 
tioned. They appear to have had only one boat, which was in tow 
of the ship, and they had much trouble to get it on board ; and 
fearing quicksands they " undergirded" the ship. Next day they 
resorted to the first act of jettison on record (except that of 
Jonah), and lightened the vessel of part of her cargo. On the day 
following passengers as well as crew went to work and " cast out 
the tackling." The trouble lasted for fourteen days, at the end of 
which time the ship went to pieces on the coast of Melita (Malta), 
but ciew and passengers — 276 souls in all — were miraculously saved. 
After wintering in Malta Paul and his party were put on board another 
Alexandrian wheat-ship bound for Italy (the " Castor and Pollux"). 
After sundry stoppages the apostle and his companions were landed 
at Puteoli (now Puzzeoli), in the Bay of Naples. The circum- 
stances and manner of their landing may be easily conjectured 
from known facts. The " Castor and Pollux" was doubtless one 
of the first wheat-ships of the season, and her approach would be 
known as soon as she rounded the island of Capri (the southern 
horn of the bay), for cornships were allowed to come up under all 
sail, while other vessels had to strike their topsails. By the time 
the vessel had arrived at the pier at Puteoli, in the north-eastern 
portion of the bay, the townspeople would be assembled in con- 
siderable numbers ; but how little wot they of the man who, with 
Luke and Aristarchus, was stepping ashore on that landing-place, 
the massive blocks of which still strew the shore ! And Paul, too, 
what must have been his emotions as he reached that land of 
Italy I Fair, indeed, was its first aspect. The shore, as seen 
under a bright sky from all the points of that oblique course of the 
** Castor and Pollux" across the beautiful bay, is loveliness itself. 
Vesuvius was then a quiet green hill, called La Somma, not more 
than half the height of the present volcano, and its slopes were 
covered with gardens and vineyards, studded here and there with 
Koman villas. At that time the eruptive forces of the district 
were finding vent in Ischia and Solfatara, and Paul would little 
think that at the foot of that green hill in one short year from that 
time the princess with whom he had lately held converse while a 



87 

prisoner in Palestine would, "with her child, be overwhelmed in 
that fatal wave which was about to sweep down upon the doomed 
city of Pompeii. St. Luke, in the Acts, tells us how Paul and his 
fellow-travellers stayed a whole week among friends and country- 
men at Puteoli, in the Tyrian quarter, after which they proceeded 
overland to Pome, 

Alexandria. — We entered the harbour of Alexandria at six in 
the morning, and expected to be carried off across the desert by 
the railway immediately after breakfast. An unexpected detention 
till the evening, however, afforded us the opportunity of getting a 
glimpse of Egyptian life. Having secured a dragoman, or guide, 
the morning was utilised for a visit to the fortifications, where the 
effects of the bombardment by the British fleet were still fresh. 
Although the walls of the fortress and buildings are thick, and 
have a substantial look about them where they have not been 
touched by our shells, the openings and breaches made in every 
direction revealed a rotten style of buildings, which the missiles of 
modern warfare convert into rubbish heaps with perfect ease. We 
found a small British force at the barracks, and a posse of painters 
and repairers in possession of the Khedive's palace. The Grand 
Square (or what was the Grand Square before the insurrection and 
massacre) presents nothing but masses of ruin on all its sides, 
except where rebuilding has commenced. It must have resembled 
on a small scale portions of Paris after the incendiarism of the 
Communists. The streets we traversed were full of novelty. The 
bazaars and their owners, the Eastern character of the goods and 
their mode of display, the costumes of the people, the veiled 
women, the camels and camel drivers, the donkeys and their drivers, 
and in some cases their riders, were all to us a new revelation of 
human life, habits, and customs. Of vehicles there were not a 
great variety ; tramcars, however, run in one or two directions. 
The open carriage, drawn by one or two horses, is the principal 
one for males ; but for Egyptian women and children long waggons 
are provided, on which they ride by themselves under charge of 
one man, or sometimes two men. The milch cows are of the 
buffalo species, rather ungainly creatures, of a dun colour. Most 
of the streets are narrow, and as they are not provided with side- 
walks the foot passengers have to step into bazaars or doorways 
very frequently to avoid the carriage wheels going over their toes 
or crushing them against a wall. We visited some of the bazaars, 
but our transactions were very limited. The Egyptians were 
" spoiled" once, and they can't, apparently, forget it. Knowing 
the impossibility of avenging themselves on their spoilers, they 
seem to consider the English a legitimate substitute. As the 
ladies found their morning's work sufficient for the day, I sallied 
forth after luncheon, and did a good deal of exploration on my 
own account. After penetrating through many curious streets and 



88 

thoroughfares I visited the markets, accompanied by a guide. 
They are very narrow and crowded, but it is interesting to see 
how the various callings are allotted their separate rows of bazaars 
and stalls. Meeting an Englishman, with whom I got into con- 
versation (and found he had a brother in Melbourne), I gathered 
some useful information, and profiting by a hint of his I called on 
the Governor of the city, and introduced myself. He was smoking, 
surrounded by friends or ojQScials, two or three of whom I found 
spoke English as well as himself. He offered me coffee and cigars, 
but as I don't smoke I declined. After a little conversation, and 
the offer by His Excellency of any assistance he could render me 
to add to the pleasure of my visit, and an exchange of courtesies, 
I withdrew. Outside the large room in which this interview took 
place was a spacious hall, and in different parts of it were clusters 
of men waiting either on seats or on the ground, but I could not 
make out what they were waiting for, although my guide treated 
it as the ordinary thing. Having seen the city pretty well, I drove 
outside to see Pompey's Pillar and the great Mohammedan ceme- 
tery. The latter is very crowded, but very peculiar. The graves 
of men (except those of the poor) are surmounted by a kind of 
monument on three tiers. At one end of the slab which covers 
the upper tier is an upright stone with inscriptions, and it is sur- 
mounted by a kind of stone turban, like a man's, with a smaller 
stone, lozenge-shaped, at the other end. Over the women's graves, 
which are flatter, there is the lozenge-shaped stOne only. Pompey's 
Pillar is a very ancient monolith, and there are broken remains 
lying all around, showing that at one time the square in which the 
column stands had other monuments and some heroic statuary. 
From an eminence near here I had a good view of the Nile near 
one of its mouths. On returning to town I took a boat and went 
round the harbour, which is a fine one, and thus regained the 
"Surat." 

From Alexandria to Suez by rail is not a very interesting 
ride. One cannot help, however, making some faint attempts to 
realise the idea of the great caravan of the Israel itish people, with 
their flocks and herds, traversing a portion of the ground on their 
way to the Ked Sea. If Goshen was in the Delta of the Nile, 
that immense multitude must have had trouble enough in covering 
the great stretch of desert leading to beyond Suez before Pharaoh 
overtook them. It is more reasonable to suppose that three 
thousand years ago there was no need of a Suez Canal, and that 
the Red Sea was continuous to the Mediterranean. The crossing 
must then have been made at some more reachable point on or 
near the line of the present canal. If, however, they travelled the 
whole distance to the south-east of Suez, where tradition indicates 
the place to have been, it must have been a hard journey, not only 
for the Israelites, but for their pursuers. Some of the stopping 
places along the route are thoroughly Arabic in character, and the 



89 

men about them would pass for sheiks of some of the desert tribes. 
An occasional glimpse of a small line of laden camels and their 
drivers adds to the characteristics of the country, as do also the 
Arab tents and mud-built villages. Suez is a small Egyptian town 
in which some of the features of life in Alexandria are repeated, 
but it possesses others peculiar to its thoroughly provincial 
character. The vendors of chairs, fans, puggeries, necklaces, and 
other trifles, are rather more noisy and importunate than are their 
class in Alexandria, and the boys seemed to me decidedly smarter. 
The air with which one lad saluted me in pressing upon me the 
superior qualities of his donkey was quite edifying. This animal 
was "a masher" and "a grand old man." Nevertheless, I declined 
to mount him. 

The news of General Graham's victory over Osman Digna's 
forces reached us by telegram before leaving Alexandria. The 
critical condition of matters in the Soudan, and the place occupied 
by the Littoral of the Red Sea in the minds of all Englishmen, 
and indeed of civilised Europe, gave an unwonted interest to the 
journey from Suez to the Straits of Bab el Mandeb, although we 
encountered none of the vessels employed in the service^ nor did 
we approach within eyeshot of either of the towns on the Red Sea 
shore. We found amongst our fellow-travellers from Brindisi only 
a very few young officers going to the Soudan on active service. 
Some of the islands we passed were interesting, notably "The 
Twelve Apostles'' and " The Brothers." In passing through the 
straits we saw two small steamers on the rocks, one of them in a 
hopeless condition. As we had not to call at Aden we took a 
direct course for Colombo, and reached there in a few hours over 
five days from Suez. The port of Colombo would be an open 
roadstead but for the breakwater (made apparently of concrete 
blocks), within which the shipping rides safely at anchor. No 
sooner was our anchor down than we were the centre of a most 
exciting scene. A crowd of applicants for your washing salute 
you, with testimonials in English from former travellers. They 
don't always know what the testimony of the writer is, for a while 
ago it is said that in one case this highly-prized document described 
the presenter of it as the greatest rogue in the place. Then there 
are vendors of all sorts of fancy goods, catamarans and boats of 
various kinds, full of nude men, wearing only a cloth about the 
loins, all clamouring to take you to the shore. Amphibious boys 
and men are shouting to you from the water to throw down a 
silver coin, which they fetch from the bottom with great ease. 
These coffee-coloured men and boys are mostly well formed, have 
muscular frames, and are evidently capable of laborious work. 
Their employment, however, must be very precarious. It appears 
to be eked out on the part of the catamaran owner by fishing off 
the coast. 



90 

Colombo impresses the visitor very favourably on landing. The 
portion of the town first reached consists for the most part of 
rather handsome buildings, interspersed with patches of rich tropi- 
cal foliage. Beyond the first rows of bazaars and places of business 
are the military quarters — extensive buildings, open and airy, with 
successions of arched colonnades, surrounded by grass compounds, 
or by belts of trees and shrubs. Our hotel, the " Galle-Face," is 
situated at the end of a most charming drive and esplanade, called 
the *' Galle-Face walk," with the sea breaking at its side for the 
whole distance. The hotel is fitted admirably for a tropical climate. 
Through the entire building the sea air circulates so freely that 
punkahs are not needed, and you sit about in cane chairs under 
its colonnades sniffing the cool breeze. You are, however, sur- 
rounded by an importunate crowd of itinerant merchants, jewellers, 
drapers, vendors of elephantine and other local mementos, photo- 
graphs, &c. 

A considerable party of our fellow-travellers left Colombo at 
seven in the morning on a railway excursion to Kandy, which is 
four hours' ride. The scenery is described as very fine ; but as 
our stay in Ceylon was to be limited to a day and a half, I pre- 
ferred seeing Colombo to Kandy. In the morning we visited the 
post-office, and obtained letters and papers which had not been 
sent to us on board the '' Rome." The principal bazaars occupied 
the attention of the ladies for some time, and after another pleasant 
drive we returned to luncheon. As I had calls to make, I took a 
carriage by myself in the afternoon, and drove to some of the 
principal public places and through the crowded thoroughfare of 
the native town, where I could see the people in their homes and 
occupations as they swarm in their matted, thatch, or tile-covered 
huts, shops, or dwellings, many of them destitute of the commonest 
conveniences. Some of them were mere sheds and outhouse- 
looking places, lying amongst palms, cocoanuts, and other indi- 
genous trees a little ofi" the thoroughfares. In these, the least 
commodious and civilised of their dwelling-places, the children 
were the most numerous. Scores of little bronze creatures trotted 
about naked, and those above six or seven years of age with only 
scant apologies for covering — all, however, as merry and blithe- 
some as the happiest and most highly favoured of their race. Of 
course, they beg like their elders, or run after the carriage for a 
mile if they see any hope of getting a silver threepence for a flower 
or two. When I had occasion to stop and alight I soon found 
myself the centre of a crowd of these little ones, clamouring with 
upturned faces like an enormous nest of young blackbirds crying 
for the good things brought by the parent-bird. Some of these 
children are really beautiful, and none that I saw were other than 
interesting. Amongst the girls of twelve or thirteen I frequently 
saw samples of exquisite beauty, with fine full eyes, good figure,. 



91 

and stately walk. These were sometimes heightened in their 
effect by a tasty dress of bright colours. There is not much that 
is distinctive in the dress of the women ; and as to the men, they 
wear apparently what they can get, and that is sometimes very 
little, unless they belong to some particular order. 

In addition to the Dagobas and Veh^ras, or, as we should call 
them, temples of the Buddhists, there are Catholic and Protestant 
churches, the former being the more prominent, for they have 
secured some of the best sites for their churches and schools here as 
elsewhere. In a population of Buddhists the aggressive opera- 
tions of Christian missions are necessarily slow and partial, 
requiring an amount of patience and perseverance which nothing 
but the promptings of a true Christian devotion can inspire. Th e 
Buddhist creed is professed by a larger number than any other 
creed in the wide world. It challenges, therefore, an attention 
and investigation which few English people find leisure or inclina- 
tion to give it, unless brought face to face with it in these eastern 
lands. Being here in the midst of a Buddhist people, I deter- 
mined to learn a little about their faith, and visited the principal 
temple to which Europeans are admitted. The central apartment 
is occupied by a colossal reclining figure of Buddha (the past 
Buddha), while at one end is a smaller figure representing, in 
a standing posture, the coming Buddha. Around the room are 
paintings and carvings of devas (a sort of superior beings, but not 
divine). Among these I was surprised to find an image of Yishnu 
and others, known or always regarded as Indian divinities. There 
are also many emblematical devices, which take a deal of explain- 
ing and interpreting, without, after all, enlightening the visitor 
very much. The devotees, of whom I met a considerable party 
coming out (they were all women and girls), carry a flower into 
the temple, and lay it before the colossal figure, not, as the priestly 
attendant informs us, as an act of worship, but as a recognition of 
their indebtedness to the best man who ever lived, and who by his 
wisdom and beneficence shed a light upon human life and destiny 
by the following of which each individual may work out his or 
her own salvation. At the same time they repeat certain dogmas 
or precepts which they profess their desire to follow, as enjoined 
by their great teacher. A sort of corridor surrounds the central 
room, and the walls of this corridor are covered with paintings 
and carvings. On one side is a Jong series of representations, in 
four rows, illustrative of the life of Buddha. There are also repre- 
sentations of the sun ; also of the evil spirits, a troop of whom, of 
most ludicrous forms, are following an elephant ; but on the 
elephant passing Buddha, who is seated on high in the centre of 
the picture, he turns round, falls on his knees, and appears to kick 
all his evil followers away into perdition. It is impossible, 
however, to describe fully the contents of this extremely 



92 

curious Dagoba, or temple of Buddha. Buddhism is less 
a religion than a philosophy; nevertheless it holds the place of 
a religion among nearly five hundred millions of our race, or 
considerably more than a third of the whole. It has, of course, its 
sects and divisions. The two main sections appear to be those of 
the north and the south, Thibet being the great centre of the 
former, and Ceylon that of the other. The particulars given to me 
express, therefore, the views of the southern division. The Bud- 
dhists claim affinity to the Positivists of London, Paris, and 
Berlin, because they hold the theory of the eternity of matter and 
force, but without a God. Their system assumes *'the universal 
operation of the law of change by which all things, the worlds and 
all forms animate and inanimate upon them, are governed." As to 
such questions as the origin of things and the existence of a Law- 
maker, they think it a waste of time to speculate about them. 
While, however, European ci-devant philosophers may be in accord 
with the atheists of the East upon questions of universal law and 
a principle of evolution, they are not likely to go with Buddhists 
in their theories of the method and direction of this evolution. 
The former contend that man is the result of a law of development, 
always working from a lower and imperfect to a higher and more 
perfect condition. The Buddhists may contend that they say the 
same thing, inasmuch as their development consists in a succession 
of rebirths, and a gradual evolution of the perfected man in the 
form of a Buddha ; but seeing that they deny the existence of 
souls, or the transmission of an independent personality, it involves 
a deal of metaphysical reasoning and apparent contradiction to 
argue that the perfected man (if such a being can be developed) 
can be identified with any, much less all, of the string of births 
through which he must have passed in the long chain of " vital 
undulation." It is admitted that memory departs with the man 
at the end of each form of being, but that his peculiar character- 
istics wiil survive, so that a bad life will lead to a change to an 
inferior being, and an amount of suffering proportioned to his 
demerits. How this descension in the scale is to be reversed I 
could not learn. The priests and interpreters of the sacred books, 
however, explain to their own satisfaction that perfect justice is 
the result of the natural working of the universal law ; that 
every man gets under its operations exactly that reward or punish- 
ment which he has deserved, no more and no less ; that no good deed 
or bad deed, however trifling or secret, escapes the evenly-balanced 
scales of this self-operative law. Still, however, the question occurs, 
How is the thoroughly renewed and perfected man to be the end and 
outcome of all these changes. The gospel, according to the great 
Sakya, is, work out your own salvation — that is, salvation from 
the miseries of the present existence, and from the possibly worse 
miseries of rebirths — by self-control, the repression of all bad 



desires, and the conquest of ignorance by learning wisdom — all 
of which is to be done by faithfully following the precepts of the 
sacred books. The moral precepts contained in these books are 
doubtless admirable ; but how a man of evil life, who has been 
reborn into a degraded form of existence, and perhaps into another 
world in which his bad passions would find their natural gratifica- 
tion, is to rise from the degradation and to return to the path that 
leads to happiness, it is impossible to comprehend. There are 
many rules of life and conduct laid down ; many forms of creed 
to be repeated, and many maxims to be professed, by the devout 
Buddhist ; but as he recognises no God, he cannot be said to 
pray. The summum bonum, the ultimate goal of all just living, 
the conquest of all unholy desires and bad passions, and the 
attainment of wisdom, or a full acquaintance with man's nature 
and destiny, is " Nirvana." This is described as a state of perfect 
rest, where the individual will be subject to no more changes, no 
more rebirths, but the total obliteration of all those physical con- 
ditions, desires, illusions, sorrows, &c., which had rendered rebirth 
necessary. It is a miserable gospel, however, that condemns each 
believer, not to one purgatory, but to numberless purgatories in 
the form of rebirths, which the teachers admit may go on through 
cycles of a thousand generations before " Nirvana " is reached. 
Christian missions have been long established in Ceylon, and the 
missionaries have schools for the instruction of the native children. 
Amongst the adult population it is not an easy matter to get them 
to unlearn the puerile part of the creeds in which they have been 
reared (the philosophical side of their moral code is not understood 
by many of them) ; and the substitution of Roman Catholic legends 
about the Virgin, and saints, and miracles, and so forth, is not 
calculated to win the more intelligent and acute among the men, 
while the masses fail to distinguish between one set of professedly 
Christian teachers and another. Amongst the educated and well- 
to-do people there is a movement in favour of a wide extension of 
education for the children, and a national fund has been opened 
for the erection of schools, in which the rising generation shall 
be taught not only in secular subjects but in the principles of 
Buddhism. 

After paying my visits to the temples and gathering such infor- 
mation as I was able, I drove out to the house, a little out of town, 
occupied by Arabi Pasha, the exiled leader of the great Egyptian 
rebellion. I was fortunate enough to find the pasha at home. 
His companions in exile were leaving the gate as I approached it. 
On introducing myself I was received very cordially, and requested 
to take a chair under the shade of some palms and cocoanut-trees 
in the garden in front of the house. A Singhalese gentleman was 
also present, fortunately, for the pasha's English is very imperfect ; 
and by the aid of this gentleman our conversation was well sus- 



94 

tained for about twenty minutes. During that time coffee was 
served to us, and the conversation turned partly, of course, upon 
Egypt and the latest news from the Soudan, and partly upon Aus- 
tralia. Arabi spoke intelligently about Melbourne, of which he 
had evidently heard a good deal before. Egyptian matters were 
rather delicate ground, and not being a reporter, or having any 
special mission, I avoided painful questions. It was evident, how- 
ever, that Arabi considered the Mahdi a formidable difldculty for 
the Egyptian Government to deal with, and that the fighting was 
not yet over, notwithstanding General Graham's defeat of Osman 
Digna's forces. As to his own position he was reticent, but he 
was evidently not displeased when his Singhalese friend expressed 
to me the hope entertained by all the pasha's friends that the time 
was not far distant when he would be restored to position and 
favour at Cairo. The house at present occupied by Arabi and his 
attendants is a commodious one, though not so large as the one at 
first assigned him. He left that on account of damp in the walls, 
while the present house is on a well -drained eminence, charmingly 
secluded, and surrounded by varied and beautiful foliage. As I 
sat looking into that not very swarthy face in friendly chat, my 
mind wandered to Alexandria and Cairo and Tel-el-Kebir. Arabi 
has none of the characteristics of a hero. He has not the natural 
force of character which you would look for in a military com- 
mander or a great political leader. But there he was — the man 
who had led an army against the forces of England, and had only 
been beaten at a great cost of blood and money. He might have 
been (as some still think he should have been) sent to the g-allows 
as a rebel, but he lives to be treated as a defeated leader in an 
honourable war, enjoying the comfort and courtesies of a very en- 
durable exile in an Eastern paradise. 

The drives around Colombo are very pretty, and the Ceylon 
scenery mostly very beautiful. Many of the tropical shrubs, in- 
cluding the lettuce trees, crotons, and other variegated plants, are 
gorgeous in the rich variety of their colours. The Cinnamon 
Gardens were to us a slight disappointment, and the '* spicy 
breezes" that, according to Bishop Heber, " blow soft from Ceylon's 
Isle," were not particularly noticeable (except in one of the densely 
crowded parts of the town, where I found them decidedly '^ spicy"). 
In saying that " every prospect pleases," however, the bishop, as 
far as rural scenery is concerned, was undoubtedly right. On the 
second morning I paid a visit to our old friend, Mr. Fergusson, the 
commissioner for Ceylon at the late International Exhibition in 
Melbourne; also to the Chamber of Commerce, and discussed some 
international questions, especially that of direct trade between the 
Australian colonies and India, after which I had to join my party 
and re-embark on board the '* Home," which was once more under 
steam soon after midday. 



95 

Our life in the " Kome" had been up to this time rather dull. 
To us it presented a striking contrast to our experiences in cross- 
ing the Pacific. There the captain was the most genial man of his 
class with whom we had ever sailed, the ofl&cers were very pleas- 
ant and gentlemanly, and the first-class passengers worked together 
harmoniously in promoting the general enjoyment. Every day, 
therefore, was a gala day. On the " Rome" it was far otherwise. 
Some of the officers were agreeable enough, and so were many of 
the passengers; but there was scarcely any co-operation, and 
therefore very little general enjoyment. Matters were not im- 
proved after leaving Colombo, as far as we were concerned, for a 
young lady of our little circle was taken ill of what was thought 
to be chicken pox, but was later pronounced to be a case of modi- 
fied small-pox. Of course she had to be isolated, and on our 
arrival at West Australia an attempt was made (under a strong pro- 
test from me) to put her ashore. The West Australian authorities, 
however, refused to take charge of her — very naturally — and she 
had to proceed to Melbourne. Some very unpleasant incidents 
arose out of this misfortune, which it is not worth while to par- 
ticularise ; but suffice it to say she was convalescent by the time we 
reached Adelaide ; and as we had engaged a female attendant for 
her we stayed at Adelaide, as we had previously intended, and 
with the other passengers for South Australia had to go into 
quarantine. 

Purgatory. — There are very few conditions, probably, under 
which any one would go into quarantine as a matter of choice in 
preference to going straight to their homes or their friends. But 
the conditions may and do vary greatly, as was proved in the case 
of the " Pome." In one instance the unfortunate passengers may 
be subjected to the miseries of a state of purgatory ; on the other 
their compulsory detention may be made an agreeable piece of 
rustication. These widely differing experiences, without much 
exaggeration, may be said to have been those of the quarantined 
passengers at Melbourne and Adelaide respectively. Fortunately, 
those who had the most to endure were subjected to the shorter 
term of endurance, while the better treated could only complain of 
their longer detention. We were amongst the latter. Our com- 
panions in misfortune were mostly less inconvenienced by the loss 
of time, and a fortnight's detention was not to them at all unen- 
durable under the circumstances. We found on arrival at the 
station on Torrens Island that every provision had been made for 
our reception. The buildings constitute a small village, capable of 
accommodating three hundred people ; and as we were a small party 
of thirty only (children included), we had an abundance of elbow- 
room, and, with the willing attentions of the superintendent and 
his staff of subordinates, had a very pleasant initiation into 
cottage life, for we were distributed among the four-roomed * cot- 



96 

tages, of which there are thirty on the reserve, besides the larger 
piles of buildings for young men and young women, hospitals, 
convalescent houses, kitchens, dining-halls, &c., &c. If we had 
gone to the island for a holiday, and taken a staff of servants and 
ample stores of provisions, we should probably have adopted 
exactly the routine of daily life which we were permitted to do by 
the South Australian authorities. We had a large hall for our 
meals — breakfast at nine, tiffin at one. Most of the ladies got up 
afternoon tea at four, and we dined at half-past six. The occupa- 
tions of the day were agreeably diversified. After breakfast 
everybody was busy finishing their correspondence for the post, or 
for friends ashore, which, after being duly fumigated, were sent by 
the steam launch, which visited us at about eleven. This welcome 
visitor brought us our letters, the morning journals and other 
literature, and fresh supplies of all sorts. It was usually a very 
interesting occasion to portions of the detenus, as friends of some 
of us were almost always on board, and they anchored for half an 
hour within speaking distance. Of course, our correspondence 
and the newspapers filled up the interval till tiffin time. In the 
afternoon various sports engaged the attention of the gentlemen — 
shooting, fishing, tennis, cricket, &c. — and the ladies enjoyed their 
strolls and their books. Heading, writing, and social intercourse 
occupied the evenings, which, however, were short, as we dined 
rather late and retired early. Altogether it was a very easy kind 
of life. We were released at the end of fourteen days. 

Testimonialising is rather overdone in these days, but we felt 
on leaving Torrens Island that while gratifying our own inclina- 
tions we were but doing the commonest justice to Mr. W. Lewis, 
the superintendent of the station, as well as to his subordinates, 
to make a presentation to them — which we trust was acceptable — 
in recognition of their unfailing attention to our wants and our 
enjoyment. 

After enjoying the society of .relatives and friends in Adelaide 
for a brief space, we went on to our final destination at Melbourne, 
and with thankful hearts were enabled to say, after our twelve 
months' wanderings through the four quarters of the glob 

HOME AT LAST! 



APPENDIX. 



THE SECRETARY'S REPORT. 



TO THE PRESIDENT, VICE-PRESIDENT, AND COMMITTEE 
OF THE MELBOURNE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. 

Gentlemen, 

I have the honour to submit to you some particulars 
of matters to which I was able to give attention during my recent 
travels through America and Europe, and which matters appeared 
to have a bearing more or less direct on the trade interests and 
general progress of this colony. On most of these subjects I had 
opportunities of addressing the Acting Secretary from time to time, 
so that to you, gentlemen of the Committee, I have little to com- 
municate that is new, but am honoured by your request to re-state 
my experiences in writing, in order that they may be recorded for 
the information of the members generally. 

. TELEGRAPHIC AND TELEPHONIC COMMUNI- 
CATION. 

At the first foreign port of call in the Pacific — viz., Honolulu — 
I was astonished to find that the main thoroughfares presented the 
" bird-cage" appearance of Flinders-lane, and that the wires were all 
telephone wires. Every house of any importance has its telephone. 
It is a necessary part of the domestic equipment. Ladies give 
their orders to the tradespeople by telephone ; the doctor is sent for 
or consulted by telephone ; visits are arranged, and all sorts of little 
social matters conducted amongst ladies without the necessity of 
their leaving their homes, to say nothing of the frequent communi- 
cations between the man of business and his family and between 
business houses and public offices. The saving in time to masters, 
mistresses, clerks, and servants, and here, where everybody rides or 
drives, of horses and carriages, as also in letter writing and messen- 
gers, is enormous, and must well repay the cost of the telephone. 
Of course, this is all the result of American enterprise, for the 
Americans have, very naturally, secured the commercial control of 
the place ; but I could hardly feel otherwise than humiliated at the 
thought that on the little island of Oahu, out in the Pacific, its 
town of less than twenty thousand inhabitants was in advance 



98 

of tlie metropolis of the Australias. (I am, of course, aware that 
since that date telephonic communication is much more largely 
employed in this city.) In San Francisco the telegraph and tele- 
phone lines are in the hands of private companies, but some of them 
have agreed upon such a division of labour that business is thereby 
greatly facilitated. For example, they have a " stock and gold" 
division of the system. I was all over one of their establishments, 
and was interested in observing how, by concentrating their attention 
upon their special business, the information in regard to all trans- 
actions in stocks, shares, exchange, &c., not only local, but national 
and foreign, was distributed in every direction almost as soon as 
received ; and this proves an immense relief to the working of the 
general business of the other offices. There is, however, a great 
deal more information in regard to " stock and gold" made public 
every day in San Francisco than in Melbourne. As to the tele- 
phones, they have here, as at other places, some recent improve- 
ments ; and the applications of both telegraph and telephone wires 
to daily general wants are more varied than are dreamt of amongst 
us. 

American telephones are largely available outside the list of sub- 
scribers. Any one may step into one of the offices open for the 
purpose, and for 25 cents may hold five minutes' conversation with a 
distant subscriber, or a public official. 

While the telephone has been undergoing such rapid development 
and extension in America, the telegraph has been surprisingly ex- 
tending in England. I obtained much interesting information on 
this subject from Mr. Preece, the chief telegraph engineer to the 
London Post Office, and other gentlemen connected with telegraphy. 
I was also shown over the whole of the telegraph establishment in 
St. Martin's le Grand, and made acquainted with the preparations 
then in progress for meeting the large additional demands which it 
was certain would be made upon the head office and all its branches 
throughout the kingdom on the intended reduction of the telegraph 
charges to 6d. for twenty words. 

TRAMWAYS. 

A Victorian landing in either Europe or America meets at once 
with ocular proof of the one palpable instance in which Melbourne 
lags behind all other centres of civilisation — namely, street tram- 
ways. Even the neighbouring colonies are in advance of us in this 
matter. At San Francisco I found the two systems of horse trac- 
tion and the endless wire-rope in use. The horse cars were 
running on most of the level lines, and the wire-rope was used on 
others, especially those of the streets which have steep inclines. In 
one of these streets the gradient in some parts is as steep as one in 
six, and yet the cars travel up and down with as much steadiness as 



99 

on a level There were five rope tramways at work in San Francisco 
belonging to one company. The greater economy in the working of 
these lines has been demonstrated, and some of the level lines were 
being converted from horse to wire-rope railways at the time of my 
visit. I had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of Mr. A. S. 
Hallidie, the gentleman who matured the wire-rope system, and 
of examining the works of the principal line. Several improve- 
ments have been effected in the apparatus since the construction of 
the first of these lines ; but the system may be described generally 
as an ordinary railway laid along the street, beneath the centre of 
which railj^ay is a tube or subway in which the wire-rope runs over 
rollers placed at certain distances. Above this tube or tunnel, for 
its entire length, is a groove or slot, through which passes the iron 
rod of a gripper attached to the driving carriage above, and which 
is called a " dummy." An assistant rides in this " dummy," and 
works the carriage by a lever, which enables him to grip or release 
the wire at pleasure. A powerful brake enables him to bring the 
cars to an immediate stoppage when required. The rope is in con- 
tinual motion, and is worked by a stationary engine erected near the 
centre of the line, and passes over large drums at each terminus, or, 
in some cases, by an engine at each end. The " dummy" carries 
passengers, and usually has one or more passenger carriages 
attached. The same kind of street tramway is in use in Chicago, 
owned by the Chicago City Eailway Company, and on which I 
travelled four miles and upwards. It had a train of several carriages, 
ran very comfortably, and pulled up at the cross streets at the end 
of every alternate block to take up and set down passengers. Its 
rate of speed is from five to six miles an hour. The advantages of 
the system are obvious in the matter of cleanliness and the health 
of the public, as there are none of the offensive and hurtful effects 
in a warm and dusty city from horse droppings or the increase of 
dust from horse traffic, the track does not get out of repair, and the 
cost of working is found to be little more than half that of horse 
trams. The system is rapidly extending in the States, and I heard 
of a company in London which was about to introduce it there. (By 
the kind courtesy of Mr. Hallidie and other gentlemen I was 
enabled to obtain much information concerning the construction and 
working of these lines, and have the pleasure of including amongst 
the documents I collected an illustrated descriptive account of them.) 
The best steam tramways that came under my notice were those 
lately introduced into Birmingham, and now running between towns 
and rural places in the midland counties. The engine is a small 
and compact boxed vehicle, with a small chimney, and has no terror 
for timid horses. It is fitted with an air-condensing apparatus, 
emits scarcely any smoke or steam, and is practically noiseless. I 
was so much struck with its apparent adaptability to some of our 
more remote suburbs, and to sparsely populated districts, that I 



.100 

wrote to the makers, Messrs. Kitson and Co., of Leeds, "who cour- 
.teously supplied me with information as to cost of engines and 
carriages, working expenses, and every detail required. They appear 
to be admirably adapted to work short country lines as feeders to 
our existing railways. 



THE WHEAT INDUSTRY. 

I collected all the information possible, in addition to that deriv- 
able from personal observation during my journey through America, 
as to the state of the wheat crop and the probable outcome of the 
then approaching season in relation to its effect upon the Mark-lane 
quotations, and, as a necessary consequence, upon the prospects and 
interests of the great wheat-growing industry of Victoria and South 
Australia. I was very courteously supplied with all the official 
information collected by the State Department at Washington, 
which has the machinery for collecting returns from all parts of the 
States, and communicated these returns to this Chamber. As, 
however, the information thus obtained could only be of value for 
the year now passed, I need not go into details. 



SUPPEESSION OF FIRES. 

Our fire-insurance offices might get a wrinkle or two from the 

practice of the American fire brigades. At San Francisco they 

have no less than fourteen engine-stations and two separate and 

distinct brigades, or " patrols," as they call them. The duty of 

these latter two is not the suppression, but the prevention of fires 

and the saving of life and property, and they are supported entirely 

by the insurance companies, or ''fire underwriters." While the 

other '' patrols" are smothering the fire by water or carbonic acid 

gas, these men are covering up stock and looking after salvage. 

While I was staying at the Palace Hotel a large tobacco factory, 

near the hotel, was found to be on fire in the uppermost story. 

The underwriters' patrol swarmed immediately into the building, 

with their indiarubber and tarpaulin covers, and, commencing with 

the floor immediately beneath the one on fire, they covered up the 

stock on each of the stories down to the bottom one. At the same 

time holes were bored in the floors, and the deluge of water poured 

upon the fire thus found its way to the basement of the factory, and 

it was said that 40,000 dollars worth of stock was thereby saved 

from destruction. The cost of maintaining this brigade for a whole 

year is under 24,000 dollars. 

The arrangements and discipline of these patrols are simply 
perfect. In one minute from the ringing of an electric bell (which 



101 

indicates at tLe same time the block where the fire has broken out) 
the patrol can be in the street, and at full gallop, notwithstanding 
that the men may have been in their beds. Slides are connected 
with their dormitory, upon which they descend instantly to their 
carriage, and the horses, which always stand ready harnessed, rush 
from their stalls to their places on each side the pole, and are 
hitched on in a twinkling. The captain mounts the box with the 
driver, and they are off into the street with all their necessary 
appliances with a celerity that is perfectly amazing. 



AMERICAN DUTIES OIST AUSTRALIAN WOOLS. 

You, gentlemen, are aware that this matter has exercised the 
minds of wool-growers and of the Australian Chambers of Com- 
merce for some years past. Before I left Melbourne we had 
intelligence of a reduction in the duty to the extent, it was said, of 
18 per cent. On my arrival at the East Coast I made inquiries 
about it, and,, from the information gathered at New York and at 
Washington, I found that although a slight amelioration of the 
tax had taken place, it was not enough to be of much service to 
these colonies. I obtained, however, a volume containing the new 
Customs Act and Schedule of Duties, which I forwarded to 
Melbourne. I found that the new Tariff Act was but a reluctant 
concession on the part of Congress to the public demand, and that 
the Tariff Commission, which (like ours) had been sitting for a year 
making inquiries, appeared to lack the courage necessary to give 
expression to the logical conclusions deducible from the evidence. 
The slight concession made appeared to have whetted the appetite 
for a more substantial reform in the direction of Free-trade. In the 
clubs and commercial circles the expression of opinion in favour of 
a change was very strong, and general. 

The newspapers in New York furnished daily evidence of the 
prominent position occupied by the tariff question ; the great 
political parties, who were about to commence -the struggle for the 
next presidential election, were compelled to regard it as one of the 
great questions of the day; and among leading citizens I found the 
opinion prevalent that the Democratic party would have to abandon 
their opposition to the Free-trade sentiment, fearing lest the large 
secession from their ranks on that one ground might give an easy 
victory to their opponents, the Republicans. Although these 
opinions emanated from mercantile men, some of them were men 
who, but for this tariff question, would vote with the Democrats. 
There was an influential organisation then in contemplation, having 
for one of its objects the extension of trade relations with other 
countries, including these colonies, and the reduction or abolition o£ 
the wool duties would be a part of their programme. 

h2 



102 



POSTAL MATTERS AND POST OFFICE ARRANGE- 
MENTS. 

Private Letter Boxes. — Prior to my leaving Melbourne a dis- 
cussion had taken place in the Chamber Committee as to the 
possibility of reviving the waning popularity of the private-box 
arrangement by the Post Office authorities here supplying to the 
holders of those boxes keys which would enable them to call or send 
at all hours for their letters. I found on visiting the American 
post-offices that the plan so proposed was then in general operation. 
A man of business calls or sends his clerk, and opens his box at any 
hour, whether officials are available or not ; and the merchants would 
be very unwilling to surrender the advantage, while the officials 
regard it as a natural and necessary part of the system. These 
remarks apply equally to the Canadian offices. 

Postal Rates between America and Australia. — The 
single-letter rate between the States and England is 5 cents. 
It is the same to South Australia, Western Australia, and 
Tasmania ; but to Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, and 
New Zealand it is 12 cents. The new arrival in San Francisco 
from the West is told by hotelkeepers and others that the postage to 
England and "Australia" is only 5 cents; and thus, unless the 
stranger takes the trouble to go to the post-office and inquire there, 
the chances are that letters to his friends in Victoria or the Eastern 
colonies will never reach them ; for by the postal regulations of the 
States any letter which bears less than a full single rate (which to 
Victoria, &c., is 12 cents) is not sent on ; and, as the writer is * 
travelling, and cannot be very well reached, the letter goes after a 
time to the Dead Letter Office at Washington, and is dead to 
all intents and purposes, however important its contents may 
be to the parties interested. This fate befell some of my own 
letters. I recovered one when at Washington, and others were 
sent to me in England by the kindness of the head of the 
department, who had a special watch kept upon letters coming into 
the " dead" branch from post-offices in the West. In Canada the 
same practice prevails. They adopt the differential rates of the 
States plus their own local charges. At all the post-offices the 
officials expressed to me their great annoyance and trouble over these 
discrepancies. I discovered this state of things at Chicago, and 
wrote thence to the authorities at Washington and Ottawa on the 
subject ; but it was only when I arrived at Washington that I 
found these higher rates to be the result of a special convention 
entered into in January, 1874, between the States and the colonies 
I have named. The two western colonies and Tasmania are not in 
the convention, and they get the benefit of the lower rate (5 cents), 



103 

and escape all the dangers of misconception or mistake which con- 
sign so many letters for the other colonies to the postal cemetery. 
Even at Washington the authorities are alive to the necessity of a 
removal of the existing grievance, and have proposed to the Sydney 
Post Office to adopt the Postal Union rate of 5 cents, and all the 
other details applicable to countries in the Union ; but, strange to 
say, the offer was declined. If, therefore, we are still subjected to 
the existing annoyances and exceptionally high rates of postage 
with America, it is from the deliberate choice of the colonies, or their 
post-office authorities. 

The Parcels Post. — This system, as you, gentlemen, are 
aware, exists in several countries, and has been for some time in 
operation in India. I was surprised, however, to find that although 
parcels under this system were sent by the Indian Government to 
England the London Post Office was no party to the arrangement, 
and that the parcels on arrival depended more on the P. and 0. 
Company than on the post-office for their distribution. In August 
last the parcels post came into operation for the first time in Eng- 
land. I was desirous of seeing how it was being worked, and after 
it was about a fortnight old I called, and was taken by the head 
of the parcels branch through that part of the post-office and its 
appurtenances which had been appropriated to this particular busi- 
ness. The system was working with perfect ease and smoothness, 
and so it appeared on a later occasion when the work had greatly 
increased. The staff at first seemed unnecessarily large, but the 
men were learning their duties, and when the pressure came they 
were fully equal to the work. The increase was not so great at the 
end of the first six months as the officials had anticipated, but there 
can be no doubt of its immense convenience to the public, of which 
I had many proofs both in London and the provinces. 

I ventured one day to ask the Acting Secretary of the post-office 
how soon we might hope for an extension of the system to the 
colonies, but I was entreated not to suggest such a thing until 
they had had time to thoroughly master the work of applying it to 
the home country. 

The character of some of the articles sent through the parcels 
post in England would astonish most people ; but the condemned 
articles which I saw at the American Post Office at Washington 
surpass in strangeness anything I heard of at St. Martin's le Grand. 
They included human skulls and anatomical preparations, the most 
uncommon specimens of the animal kingdom, birds, beasts, and 
fishes, as well as reptiles, including a fine rattlesnake (which had 
been posted alive and addressed to some one in Germany). A col- 
lection of these cariosities, only two or three years old, forms 
already quite an interesting museum. The machinery of the parcels 
post appeared to me so easily manageable that the only difficulty I 



104 

can anticipate in its introduction in this colony is the want of 
sufficient space at the head office — a difficulty which confronted the 
authorities at St. Martin's le Grand, but which they have managed 
to surmount. 



BOARDS OF TRADE. 

Chambers of Commerce have undergone a great change in 
America during the past few years. From out of them, or beside 
them, have sprung up commercial organisations under the title of 
*' Boards of Trade." They appear to have arisen out of the necessity 
for some permanent body to protect the general interests of merchants 
in cases of insolvency. Gradually their functions have expanded, 
until they have taken up abstract questions and matters of a pressing 
and practical character, some of which had scarcely come within the 
recognised province of a Chamber of Commerce. Hence in some 
cities I found the Chamber of Commerce a mere piece of machinery 
for collecting and publishing commercial statistics, while mercantile 
activities found a channel of operation in the Board of Trade. In 
other cases the Chamber of Commerce provided the buildings 
required for the co-operative agencies of the mercantile community, 
while the Board of Trade and the Exchange divided the work. 
The topics discussed by the Boards of Trade are often of much 
wider significance than those which we are in the habit of including 
within the scope of Chambers of Commerce. It is pretty certain, 
however, that, viewed as a whole, the modern American system 
would be ill adapted to the wants of such a community as ours. 



ELECTRIC LIGHTING. 

As the electric light will be the light of the future, it claimed 
much of my attention. All the large hotels in America use it, as 
well as many other places of business, factories, &c. The grand 
new hotels in London have adopted it, and so have the principal 
hotels in Paris and other continental cities ; and, as you are aware, 
gentlemen, many steamships are now lighted throughout by elec- 
tricity. At Chicago I had the opportunity of examining the 
various inventions, as there was an extensive display of them in the 
Great Exhibition Building, where was being held a " national 
exposition of railway appliances," including every conceivable thing 
connected with railways. In New York I made the acquaintance of 
Mr. Edison, and was privileged by a private view over the whole of 
his establishment at Newark for the manufacture of his electric 
lamps. When in London I was permitted to sec over the large 
works of Messrs. Siemens, and of the Eastern Telegraph Company, 
and others ; and at the Fisheries' Exhibition was another large 



105 

display of the various applications of electricity to lighting. Any 
one having seen all these exemplifications of the practicability of 
lighting by electricity, and the extent to which old difficulties have 
been surmounted, must see that the time is rapidly approaching 
when a city like Melbourne must avail itself of the many advantages 
to l>ealth and comfort which the new light presents. 



THE ASSOCIATED CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE OF 
THE UNITED KINGDOM. 

Having accepted an invitation from the Association of Chambers 
of Commerce of the United Kingdom to attend their annual autumnal 
meeting at Derby during the first week of October, I had the plea- 
sure of being present, and shared with them the profuse hospitalities 
of the Derby Chamber, the municipal authorities, and the manu- 
facturers and magnates of the district.. 

The Masonic Hall at Derby was filled each day of the gathering 
by nearly two hundred merchants, manufacturers, and representa- 
tives of the principal Chambers. 

The official programme embraced twenty-eight subjects, some 
of which were new to me ; some were of purely Imperial concern, 
but others had more or less of interest for us in these colonies, and 
were mostly old acquaintances, as they had previously occupied the 
attention of this Chamber. I may mention a few examples. As to 
the progress of Bills in Parliament, it was submitted by the Derby 
and Leeds Chambers, and agreed to — " That the Executive Council 
be requested to give all the support possible to the following motion, 
of which Mr. E. Clarke, Q.C., M.P., has given notice for next 
session : — ' Bills in Progress. — That it is desirable that the practice 
of the House of Commons should be so amended that the con- 
sideration of Bills which have passed a second reading, but have not 
become law, shall be resumed in the succeeding session of the 
same Parliament at the stage of committee." Members of this 
Chamber will probably consider that practical legislation in this 
colony would be facilitated and cheapened if the practice of our 
Parliament could be amended in accordance with this resolution. 

On the subject of the decimal sjstem, the resolution adopted at 
the instance of the Leicester Chamber was — " That in the opinion 
of this Association the establishment of a complete decimal system 
of weights, measures, and money would confer a great boon upon 
the commercial classes of this country, and that it is highly 
desirable the teaching of such a system should be introduced into 
all public elementary schools. That this Association recommends 
the metric system of weights and measures now in use by nearly 
every continental nation, and a decimal currency, based upon and as 
nearly as possible approaching our present coinage, and requests 



106 

the Executive Council to bring this resolution before Her Majesty's 
Goyernment." By the invitation of the President, I explained to 
the Conference the steps that had been taken by this Chamber 
in past years to introduce the decimal system here, commen- 
cing, as we proposed to do, with the selling of grain and pro- 
duce by the cental, and how the movement broke down in the 
auction-rooms. The opinions expressed were generally in favour 
of legislative action, allowing sufficient time for all classes of 
traders to familiarise themselves with the tables. As to the 
decimal coinage, I can add my testimony of that of all others 
who have been through the continents of Europe and America as 
to the vast superiority of such a simple system over the complex 
and unequal divisions of the British coinage. The London Chamber 
submitted a resolution upon the urgent necessity which existed, in 
the interests of Anglo- Colonial trade, that these colonies should join 
the Postal Union as soon as possible. I had an opportunity of 
explaining what the various Australian Chambers had been doing, 
and the results of the Postal Union Conference at Sydney. The 
resolution was amended at my suggestion, and its full text as passed 
is given in the Committee's Report. The following resolution, sub- 
mitted by the South of Scotland Chamber, is in consonance with the 
opinions of the Chambers here, viz.: — "That a deputation be 
appointed to represent to Her Majesty's Postmaster-General — (1) 
The necessity of cheapening and facilitating foreign and colonial 
telegraphic communication ; (2) That the principal lines of wires, 
especially in towns, should be conveyed underground." Resolutions 
were also adopted in favour of a reduction of the rates charged for 
telephonic communication, the telephone being in England under 
the control of the Post Office. It was also affirmed, on the motion 
of the Bradford Chamber, " That this Association desires to confirm 
its previous vote, to the effect that, while maintaining their prefer- 
ence for efficient tribunals of commerce, this Association recom- 
mends as a step in the direction towards the attainment of that 
desideratum that the more important county courts be made courts 
of first instance for all commercial disputes, without limit as to their 
amounts, subject, of course, to all proper regulations for removal and 
appeal ; and that in all important cases the judge should be assisted 
by competent assessors, and that the Council be directed to use 
every available means to obtain such an extension of the county 
court's jurisdiction in the course of next session of Parliament." 

I am bound to state that, as the representative of this Chamber, 
I received the most marked attentions throughout the five days in 
which I mingled with the delegates from various parts of the 
kingdom. Both manufacturers and merchants were eager to know 
more about us, and appeared to be so much gratified by our personal 
intercourse that I was asked by some of them to formuhite a scheme 
by which the Colonial Chambers of Commerce should be associated 



107 

with those of the home country, and there could be regular inter- 
changes of thought and action upon matters of mutual concern. I 
hope the time is not distant when something of this sort may be 
done ; and I may be permitted to suggest to members of this Chamber 
that they may be doing good service when visiting Europe if they 
will put themselves in direct communication with the London 
Chamber and the Associated Chambers, for I am sure that the 
more frequent and intimate the intercourse between the old country 
and the colonies becomes, the better it will be for colonial interests. 



SPECIAL COURTS FOE COMMERCIAL CAUSES. 

This has been almost a standing question with this Chamber, as 
it has been with the British Chambers for some years past. The 
desirableness of either establishing special tribunals, or of adapting 
the county courts to the settlement of trade disputes by the addi- 
tion of mercantile judges or assessors, has been frequently affirmed 
by the Chamber, and among its records are several papers of my 
own on " Tribunals of Commerce." Naturally, therefore, I gave 
special attention to the subject. In France, Belgium, Germany, 
and Italy I received only confirmatory evidence of the useful- 
ness of the commercial tribunals in those countries. In Ant- 
werp, where there is one branch of trade of special import- 
ance to the port — that in hogs' lard and salt provisions — 
the principle of special tribunals for special interests is carried 
so far that I found a distinct court of arbitration for the 
settlement of disputes in that particular trade ; and one of the 
principal judges of the court gave me some interesting particulars of 
its successful working. It is a surprising fact that only among 
English-speaking communities is the natural yearning for a simple 
and inexpensive method of settling differences between merchants 
and traders still unsatisfied. Even in America the legal processes 
are in many cases very costly. Courts of arbitration have, how- 
ever, been established in some cities. That of New York, which 
was established by Act of Congress in 1875, is called the " Court 
of Arbitration of the Chamber ,of Commerce of the State of New 
York." Its forms are simple and its fees almost nominal as com- 
pared with those of our Supreme Court. In London the Chamber 
of Commerce, soon after its formation, sought to give some practical 
effect to the common desire for a simple commercial tribunal, and 
have initiated a system of arbitration ; but, of course, it is only 
voluntary, and differs but slightly from that which will be found 
appended to the Rules of this Chamber. There are other courts of 
arbitration in commercial centres in England, but they all lack the 
essential element of legislative sanction, and are therefore non- 
compulsory. 



108 



THE WINE INDUSTRY. 

The future of our Victorian wine industry is a matter of such 
moment to the colony that I devoted a good deal of attention 
to matters which seemed to have a bearing upon it. In California 
some very fair wines are produced, but they do not appear to be 
popular in the Eastern cities, which constitute the natural market 
for the surplus produce of the West. The Californians complain 
that when their natural wines reach the Eastern States they are 
adulterated with glucose and spirit and water, and hence the concoc- 
tion labelled Californian wine is sold at prices lower than those at 
which the genuine article can be sold in San Francisco. The wine 
sent from California in the year before last amounted to about three 
million gallons, -and was valued (at the port of shipment) at about 
one and a-half million dollars. The wine of America, unlike its 
corn, may be left out of the calculation in estimating the prospects 
of our Australian wine in the English market. 

In London I sought for information from practical business men 
identified in any way with our wine trade as to its position, its pros- 
pects, its facilities, and its obstacles. I did what little I could to 
draw attention to our wines, and received gratifying proofs of the 
rapidly disappearing prejudice and the increasing favour with which 
the products of our vineyards are now regarded. There can be no 
doubt, however, that the future of this industry depends largely upon 
the judgment and discretion of our winegrowers and merchants. If 
the London merchants who are seeking to promote this trade can be 
supplied with good natural wines, thoroughly matured, at reason- 
able prices, the demand must increase, but if " fortified" wines are 
sent, or such as for want of proper treatment up to maturity turn 
sick on the voyage, the establishment of a steady, permanent, and 
remunerative trade will be retarded. It is indeed a critical juncture, 
and if our principal winegrowers would grasp the situation they 
might, by association among themselves, do much towards assuring 
the results which they, as well as all good colonists, must desire. 

In connection with this wine question there is much to be said 
which I cannot say in this brief report, both about the trade and 
the manufacture. As to the latter, I am not an expert ; but I had 
the opportunity of seeing the processes of maturing wines in the 
great centre of the German wine industry on the Rhine and Moselle, 
as well as in the great French champagne district in and around 
Epernay. In both countries I could not but contrast the patient and 
persevering skill and care exercised by the wine producers in nursing 
their wines up to maturity with what I have seen in our own wine 
cellars. 



109 



BILLS OF LADING. 

Going to Europe, as I did, with a knowledge of tlie sense of 
injustice which pervaded the minds of the importers of Melbourne 
in consequence of the position in which tliej were placed by the 
stipulations introduced of late into bills of lading in the interest of 
the steamship companies, and having, also, in my mind the efforts 
which this Chamber had been making for a long time past to pro- 
mote the unification of mercantile law, and especially the establish- 
ment of uniformity in the law of affreightment by the adoption of a 
common form of bill of lading, I went, immediately on my landing 
at Liverpool from America, to see the President of the Chamber of 
Commerce, Mr. Richard Lowndes, who had taken a great interest 
in the question, and had written upon it. I was unable to see Mr. 
Lowndes, but had an opportunity of discussing the matter with the 
Secretary. From him I learned that, although the Liverpool 
Chamber had appointed representatives to the Conference, whose 
labours had greatly contributed to bring about the adoption of the 
form of bill of lading which the Law of Nations' Society at their 
Liverpool meeting in 1882 recommended for general acceptance, yet 
the merchants and shipowners of Liverpool were still divided upon 
the question, and that bill of lading was only very partially accepted. 
Subsequently, I went into the matter with the General and Legal 
Secretaries of the Association of Chambers of Commerce, but fouiid 
that there was no probability of the Council of that body succeeding 
in any efforts to bring about an agreement between the shipowner 
and the shipper as to the limitation of mutual liability, although 
the two interests were about equally represented in the Association. 
While conferring with merchants in the city and with the Secretary 
of the London Chamber of Commerce on the same subject, I found 
that the Australian Chambers had appealed to the London Chamber 
for assistance in obtaining relief from the unreasonable exemptions 
inserted by steamsTiip owners in the bills of lading. I then arranged 
with Mr. Murray, the energetic Secretary of the London Chamber, 
that I would obtain evidence to put before the Sub-Committee, to whom 
the Council of the Chamber proposed to refer the matter, and accord- 
ingly I looked up the particulars of recent cases in Adelaide and else- 
where, and saw Dr. Stubbs, the Hon. Secretary of the Association 
for the Reform and Codification of the Law of Nations, who was 
very willing to attend, and undertook also for Sir Travers Twiss that 
he would give evidence before the Committee. I also held myself in 
readiness to be called. The Sub-Committee, however, appeared to 
come at once to the conclusion that there was no possibility of their 
agreeing, as the merchants and shipowners were equally represented, 
and they evidently deemed it useless to hear representatives of the 
Australian Chambers, or to call for evidence of any kind. The 



no 

Council of the Chamber, however, again requested that the Austra- 
lian representatives should be heard, and the Sub-Committee was to 
make the necessary arrangements. These were not complete when I 
left London, and I have not yet heard what has since been done. 

The fact is, gentlemen, that the shipowners are a powerful body, 
perhaps the most powerful organisation in England. They are 
perfectly agreed to carry merchandise only on their own terms. In 
my opinion, the merchants who meet them in the special Committee 
of the London Chamber of Commerce are powerless to influence 
them, and have no means of coercing them. The combination 
of shipowners is only to be met by a combination of shippers. 
The shipowner, in consequence of the combination, can insist upon 
any form of bill of lading he pleases, and the shipper, in the absence 
of union, is compelled to accept it ; but if the shippers will also 
combine, and insist upon a reasonable protection against losses 
which should in the nature of things fall upon the shipowner, they 
will be likely to obtain it. If the importers of Melbourne will asso- 
ciate themselves together for this special object, and induce those of 
the other principal Australian cities to do the same, and then by the 
weight of their united influence enable a corresponding body of 
merchants and shippers in London to meet the shipowners — 
organisation against organisation — the present complaints of the 
merchants may be removed. If, however, the shipowners should 
then be inexorable, the remedy is easy. There will be no difliculty 
in starting another line of steamers who would take the Liverpool 
bill of lading, or one which would be even more acceptable to the 
merchant and shipper. 



THE CONDITION OF ENGLAND COMMERCIALLY, 
AND POPULAR SENTIMENT IN RELATION TO 
THE COLONIES. 

The colonies have never probably occupied so large a place in 
men's minds in the old country as they do at the present time. 
Much has been done of late to famiharise the British public with 
colonial affairs, notably the successful Exhibitions at Sydney and 
Melbourne. Nothing, however, has done so much for the average 
British citizen in the way of improving his geography as the New 
Guinea resolutions adopted by the Sydney Conference and the sub- 
sequent discussions on the recidivistc question. •' The admired 
audacity," as it was termed by one journal, of these colonies in 
seeking to take charge of New Guinea and resisting the convict 
policy of France created a real sensation in England, and brought 
maps and atlases into unusual requisition. There are, however, other 
and deeper causes at work drawing men's thoughts towards the 



Ill 

colonies. British trade is not in the flourishing condition that 
manufacturers and merchants desire. Old markets are failing them, 
and competition is cramping them. They cast about for a remedy, 
and their eyes are naturally turned in the direction of England's 
colonies. Many of the large manufacturers of the northern counties 
are barely able to keep their mills going. Some of them told me 
that they were not making 2 per cent, upon their capital, and I was 
seriously consulted by one as to the transference of his large business 
to this colony. Hence, at mercantile gatherings, civic banquets, 
and on every platform where the leaders of public opinion are heard, 
the colonies have a prominent place. We are the " younger Eng- 
land," the ^' Greater Britain," and, with a gush, " our brethren in 
the colonies." The farming interest, too, is in a very unsatisfactory 
condition. Wheat-growing does not pay at present prices, and, 
although large breadths of land have been laid down in grass, the 
results, from various causes, have not been up to expectation. Many 
of the farmers are therefore coveting " fresh fields and pastures 
new." The retail traders complain of excessive competition, and I 
found some selling off with a view to settling in one of the colonies ; 
and many others asked me about the openings for their capital and 
energies amongst us. The domestic servants, a class whom we 
greatly want, appear only to need a little help and some satisfactory 
arrangement to get them out in twos and threes (for they naturally 
shrink from starting alone), and an abundance of good English 
domestics would come out. In almost every place where we stayed, 
even for a short time, the servants asked my wife to bring them out 
to Australia. Of Victoria, as distinct from those colonies which 
have adopted a system of assisted immigration, and which have their 
agents, their placards and pamphlets in ail the large towns, too little 
is known. Before I left Melbourne, the Hon. Mr. Sargood had 
arranged for the printing and transmission to the Agent-General of 
a thousand copies of the pamphlet entitled " Essay on the Colony 
of Victoria," which had been specially prepared at the instance of 
the Commissioners for the Amsterdam Exhibition. On my arrival 
in London I found that there was not a scrap of printed informa- 
tion which the assistants in the Agent-General's office could hand to 
inquirers ; and as none, save the Agent-General himself, had any 
personal knowledge of Victoria, you, gentlemen, can imagine for 
yourselves the amount of enlightenment that the British public 
might be expected to get on the subject of this colony through its 
only agency in England. Mr. Murray Smith, before he heard of the 
pamphlets, determined to furnish his clerks with something about 
the colony, and he had this card-map prepared, and upon it he 
endorsed the numbers of the population of each of the Australasian 
colonies. You will probably think that it is not a very great 
enticement to an intending emigrant to see that Victoria is crowded 
into that little southern excrescence of the continent, and to find 



112 

that its population exceeds that of any of its larger neighbours ► 
Without a good deal more information than the card conveys, he 
might be disposed to turn his attention to a colony with more elbow 
room. 

On visiting the Amsterdam Exhibition as an Honorary Commis- 
sioner, I found two thousand of the pamphlets I have mentioned, in 
English, which were of no earthly use to the Dutchmen and other 
foreigners who thronged the courts, and who were well supplied with 
copies of it in German and French. As our Agent- General was 
there at the same time, I arranged at once for the transfer of the 
English pamphlets to London, and during my subsequent travels I 
always took a parcel of them with me, and found everywhere that 
they were received with avidity, and, no doubt, extensively read. In 
this way I distributed several hundreds ; and at my suggestion 
copies were sent to several public offices and institutions connected 
with the colonies. 



DIRECT TRADE WITH ITALY. 

Since the Melbourne International Exhibition of 1881 corre- 
spondence had passed between the Chamber and several of the 
Italian Chambers of Commerce on the subject of opening up direct 
trade between Italy and these colonies, and it was expected that the 
Italian Government would be willing to subsidise a direct line of 
steamers if sufficient justification could be shown for asking them to 
do so. I therefore visited the Chambers of Commerce at Milan, 
Venice, Rome, and Naples, but found that the matter had been 
allowed to drop out of consideration for some time, I was referred, 
however, to the Directors of the National Steamship Company of 
Italy, who have ships running through the Canal to the East. 
These steamers leave from Genoa monthly, and I found that they 
are now arranging to send a steamer every third month to these 
colonies. Until lately Italian producers and manufacturers had to 
send their goods to London for shipment to Australia, but if this 
tri-monthly service is established by way of the Ligurian Sea, in 
addition to that of the Orient steamers from the south-west, the 
Messageries Maritinies from Marseilles, and the P. and 0. steamers 
from Venice and the Adriatic, there will be no lack of facilities for 
any trade that is likely to be established with these colonies. 



THE CHAMBER'S ENGLISH FRIENDS. 

You are aware, gentlemen, that during the last few years this 
Chamber has availed itself of the friendly offices of the Association 
of Chambers of Commerce of the United Kingdom, and its obhging 



113 

Secretary, Mr. Hole. Nor is it possible for members of past com- 
mittees to forget the ready and willing service often rendered to us 
by Mr. William Westgarth. That gentleman must still be re- 
garded as one of the best friends, not only of this Chamber, but of 
the colony. He is ever ready in person and in purse, by effort as 
well as advocacy, to advance the welfare of Victoria in every possible 
way, and this generous devotion to our interests I had the benefit 
of on several occasions. A new friend we may recognise in the 
London Chamber of Commerce, whose President, Secretary, and 
Council have shown every desire to assist this and the other 
Australian Chambers in any way possible. We may also reckon 
amongst our British associates the Royal Colonial Institute and its 
active and enthusiastic Hon. Secretary, Mr. Frederick Young. 
Although the scope of the Institute is a wide one, embracing the 
whole of the British colonies^ there is a constant desire shown by 
Mr. Young and the gentlemen connected with the office to con- 
tribute to the well-being of any and each of the colonies as questions 
affecting them come up for discussion. The Institute is doing real 
service to the colonies. Last, though not least, we have an Agent- 
General whose sympathies with this Chamber and its objects are 
not begotten of yesterday, and who is ever ready to assist the 
Chamber in any way not incompatible with the duties of his 
important position. 



POSTAL AND RAILWAY MATTERS. 

Having been honoured with introductions from the Minister of 
Railways and the Postmaster-General to heads of corresponding 
services in other countries, I was enabled to collect some information 
regarding the work of those departments. In the pursuit of this 
information I visited some of the great railway workshops in England 
and Wales, as well as ironworks, where the modern steel rails are 
manufactured. I had opportunities of seeing the manufacture and 
preparation of wires for both telegraph and telephone purposes in 
England and Germany, especially the latter, as the German system 
of telegraph cables, laid throughout the empire underground, con- 
stitutes by far the most perfect of any existing national system. 



PRINTED DOCUMENTS. 

Finally, gentlemen, I may say that the handsome introduction 
with which you favoured me secured for me in all great commercial 
centres the most courteous reception, and, as a consequence, I have 
been able to obtain some valuable additions to your library. Many 



114 

of these, I hope, are but first instalments, as at some of the places 
yisited, especially the State departments of Washington, I was 
promised a regular supply of certain annual volumes, which must be 
of value as works of reference in the library of an institution like this. 
In all these matters I trust that my efforts will have tended to 
the advancement of the interests not only of this Chamber but of 
the colony. 

I have the honour to be, Gentlemen, 

Your very obedient servant, 

B. COWDEROY. 



Mason, Firth & M'Cutcheon. Printers, Flinders Lane West, Melbourne. 



